The REACH Foundation supports expanding KanCare to provide coverage for 160,000 Kansans and sustain the healthcare workforce and health systems which are the primary source of care for low-income families.

• Kansas is one of 11 states that have declined federal resources to extend coverage to low-income adults and families–leaving Kansans without coverage options and placing the state at an economic disadvantage.
• Kansas spends more per capita on Medicaid than other expansion and non-expansion states, and uses state general revenue to pay for critically important mental health and substance abuse treatment services that would be covered with federal expansion dollars.
• KanCare expansion would fix the state’s restrictive eligibility limits. The income limit to qualify is less than $8,750 a year for a family of three–less than $4 per hour.
• Kansans see KanCare expansion as a sensible solution. Numerous polls show consumers and voters support expanding coverage–and want policy makers to answer this need.

Resources:

Alliance for a Healthy Kansas

“The Unexpected Costs of Not Expanding Medicaid in Kansas,” University of Kansas Institute for Policy & Social Research

“New Survey Shows Statewide Bipartisan Support for KanCare Expansion,” Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, 2002

The REACH Foundation supports an effective and adequately funded public health system to protect the health of Kansas communities.

• Kansas has a decentralized public health system that relies heavily on local funding, a model that results in wide variation in resources that may not match community needs.
• The public health workforce needs to be rebuilt as a result of the pandemic; nearly one-third of health departments lost their top officials during the health crisis, straining staff capacity statewide.
• Kansas policy makers should assess the state’s public health infrastructure and develop a plan to strengthen health department preparedness.
• Public health priorities should include modernization of health data collection and monitoring systems, attention to health disparities in Black maternal health and birth outcomes, language accessibility, and improved immunization rates across the state.

Resources:

Kansas Public Health Collaborative

“Reasons for Turnover of Kansas Public Health Officials during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022

The REACH Foundation supports expanded use of telehealth to increase access to health, mental health and behavioral health services for rural and other underserved populations.

• Use of telehealth increased among patients and providers during the recent health crisis. Easing of restrictions on telehealth reduced frequent barriers to care, such as provider shortages, transportation, child care and work challenges.
• Studies of consumer and provider experience conducted in 2021 and 2022 pinpointed areas for improvement, such as reliable broadband, health information technology support, and integration of interpretation services.
• Kansas policy makers should ensure equitable access to services, clarify provider and payor responsibilities, and establish patient protections.

Resources:

“Telehealth in Kansas During COVID-19: Provider and Patient Experience,” Research Brief, United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and REACH Healthcare Foundation

The REACH Foundation supports budget and tax policies that ensure revenue is available to invest in core health and social services that enable workers to be productive and families to thrive.

• Kansas continues to face health, employment and economic challenges due to the impact of the pandemic. An estimated 89,000 Kansas children live in households with incomes below the poverty line.
• Kansas policy makers should increase access to economic support programs that bolster household stability. These include expanding the eligibility timeframe for cash assistance to match federal limits, and offering new mothers flexibility on work requirements in the cash assistance program for 12 months after giving birth.
• Immediate elimination of the state’s food sales tax also would provide tangible relief for families facing higher grocery bills.
• Kansas policy makers should revise the statute that uses an outdated poverty measure to establish income thresholds for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Resources:

Kansas Action for Children

“Income Support Program Lifts Families Out of Poverty,” Kansas Action for Children, August 2022

The REACH Foundation supports voting protection measures that provide transparent, safe and accessible pathways for voter participation in electoral processes.

• National health and provider groups, such as the American Medical Association, have identified voter engagement as a social determinant of health.
• Kansas provides flexibility to counties on how elections are run, which contributes to variation in how elections are administered. Voter registration and voting should be transparent, convenient and broadly accessible.
• Kansas policy makers should ensure access to early voting and absentee voting to support those who work or have other limitations, and expand voter I.D. options.
• Options for growing voter participation should include automatic voter registration and Election Day registration.

Resources:

The Voter Network

ACLU of Kansas

The REACH Foundation supports timely and efficient processes for qualifying Missourians for Medicaid to provide health coverage to all eligible adults and children.

• Given the economic advantages of a healthy workforce, it is imperative state health officials continue to improve application and renewal processes. Using Federally Facilitated Marketplace assessments to qualify applicants has reduced the application backlog. Maintaining this approach will help prevent backlogs going forward.
• Missouri should access the federal option to provide 12 months of continuous health coverage for children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to reduce lapses in coverage.
• To improve maternal and birth outcomes, Missouri should extend MO HealthNet coverage for mothers to 12 months postpartum. Nearly half of U.S. states have extended this coverage.

Resources:

Streamlining Medicaid Enrollment Supports Coverage and Reduces Administrative Burdens, Missouri Budget Project, October 2022

Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Extension Tracker, Kaiser Family Foundation, Dec 08, 2022

The REACH Foundation supports budget and tax policies that ensure revenue is available to invest in core services and programs that are demonstrated to help workers and families thrive.

• Missouri’s tax policies and budgeting practices have not adequately met funding needs for public services to the extent that Missouri continues to fall behind neighboring states in funding for roads, workforce, child and adult health, education and more.
• Missouri leaders have the opportunity to use federal resources such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), nutrition assistance and other public benefits that can lift families out of poverty.
• Missouri policy makers need to assess the state’s overall tax structure toward policies that alleviate economic hardship for low-wage workers and their families.

Resources:

Missouri Budget Project

Kids Win Missouri

The REACH Foundation supports an effective and adequately funded public health system to protect the health of Missouri communities. 

• The pandemic reinforced the importance of a well-organized public health infrastructure. Missouri’s decentralized approach has resulted in an uneven distribution of COVID-19 resources and assistance during the pandemic.
• Missouri’s public health funding model needs re-examination. Public health units receive a base amount of state funding but depend on federal and local grants to sustain their operations. This approach places Missouri nearly last among states in per capita funding for public health.
• Public health priorities should include modernization of health data collection and monitoring systems, attention to health disparities in Black maternal health and birth outcomes, language accessibility, and improved immunization rates across the state.

Resources:

Acosta, Alexis; Benoit, Marie-Anais; Conway, Ciara; Hughes, Dora; Levi, Jeffrey; Markus, Anne; Regenstein, Marsha; Seyoum, Semret; Trott, Jennifer; and Van Bronkhorst, Hope, “Missouri’s Public Health Response to COVID-19: Key Findings and Recommendations for State Action and Investment” (2021). Health Policy and Management Issue Briefs. Paper 61. 

The REACH Foundation supports expanded use of telehealth to increase access to health, mental health and behavioral health services for rural and other underserved populations.

• Use of telemedicine in the U.S. had been minimal prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but provider and patient acceptance of this mode of delivering care grew during the current health crisis.
• States relaxed restrictions around provider licensing, online prescribing and written consent. These and other pandemic-related changes eased barriers for consumers, including access to appointments, transportation and other limitations.
• Missouri lawmakers should ensure equitable access to services, address health provider and payor responsibilities, and establish patient protections.

Resources:

JoAnn Volk et al., States’ Actions to Expand Telemedicine Access During COVID-19 and Future Policy Considerations (Commonwealth Fund, June 2021). https://doi.org/10.26099/r95z-bs17

The REACH Foundation supports voting protection measures that provide transparent, safe and accessible pathways for voter participation in electoral processes.

• National health and provider groups, such as the American Medical Association, have identified voter engagement as a social determinant of health.
• To strengthen voter participation, rules and procedures for voter registration and voting requirements should be transparent, convenient and broadly accessible.
• Missouri policy makers should expand voter identification options to eliminate barriers to securing a state I.D.
• Options for growing voter participation should include automatic voter registration and Election Day registration.

Resources:

Missouri Organizing and Voter Engagement Collaborative (MOVE)