House Speaker ousts three Republicans from health committee

According to several articles published by media outlets across Kansas today, an overhaul of the House Health Committee resulted in the loss of three members. The three Republicans have voiced support for Medicaid expansion and believe this is the reason for their removal.

Read the story quoted from the Topeka Capital-Journal below for more on the House Speaker's decision to remove these members of the committee.

House Speaker Ray Merrick ousted three Republicans from the House Health and Human Services Committee Wednesday, a move the lawmakers said took aim at their support for Medicaid expansion.

Reps. Barbara Bollier, Susan Concannon – the vice chair -- and Don Hill all said the speaker’s office told them they were being removed from the committee. And Concannon said the speaker’s office had conveyed that her reassignment was related to her support for expansion.

The reassignments also remove three lawmakers from the committee who have close ties to healthcare. Bollier is a retired physician, Hill is a pharmacist and Concannon served as the executive director of a health foundation.

“This isn’t about me, this is about the people. They deserve the ability to have expertise, the most knowledgeable people helping shape healthcare policy in the state. It’s not only about Medicaid expansion or not. I find it tragic to take the three of us incredibly knowledgeable people off of that committee,” Bollier said.

The speaker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ousted lawmakers said it was their understanding the speaker’s office would release a statement Wednesday.

Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, and the ranking Democrat on the committee, said he believed Medicaid expansion legislation would pass the committee if brought up for a vote.

“It’s a desperate act by people who are on the wrong side of history trying to stop the momentum of the people of Kansas who want a vote and want Medicaid expansion,” Ward said.

Under the federal Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, states can use federal funds to expand Medicaid. Thirty-one states have chosen to do so but some states, Kansas included, have chosen to not expand Medicaid.

Under the law, commonly called Obamacare, the federal government will cover 100 percent of the costs of Medicaid expansion initially and 90 percent of the costs by 2020. Opponents of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, including Gov. Sam Brownback, argue that state cannot cover the costs.

“I don’t think we have the resources to get it done,” Brownback said during a Hutchinson stop in September.

Merrick also opposes Medicaid expansion. Last month, the speaker sent a memo to fellow Republicans with talking points for rejecting an expansion.

Read original article here.