Issues: Health Care

The Kelly administration has made significant strides toward a healthier, more prosperous Kansas through its actions and investments in health and well-being. From her first day in office, Governor Laura Kelly has fought to provide more Kansans access to health care by making Medicaid expansion central to her agenda. Due to the Kansas Legislature’s persistent obstruction of this widely popular issue, Governor Kelly has prioritized investing in crucial health care programs to ensure Kansans have access to care, one way or another.

Governor Kelly is dedicated to Kansans’ overall health and well-being and will continue to advocate for Medicaid expansion throughout the remainder of her second term.

Highlights:

Access to Care

• Every year Governor Kelly has been in office, she has introduced a commonsense bill to expand Medicaid in Kansas. These six proposals would have provided health care coverage to 150,000 Kansans who have no other access to affordable health insurance.
  • In the fall of 2023, Governor Kelly launched her statewide, “Healthy Workers, Healthy Economy” tour to highlight the importance and urgency of this issue.

• With the Legislature’s inaction on Medicaid Expansion, the Governor has allocated more than $50 million in funding toward access-to-care initiatives such as grants for disadvantaged populations and expansion of hospital services.

• Under Governor Kelly’s leadership, Kansas became one of the first states to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage for new moms from 60 days to one year. Thanks to this, moms and their babies are guaranteed health care coverage for one year after birth.

Health Care Workforce and Infrastructure

• Governor Kelly has signed multiple bills throughout her time in office to ensure health care professionals from other states can practice in Kansas and contribute to the economy. This includes audiologists, social workers, counselors, dentists, and dental hygienists.

• In 2022, Governor Kelly signed a bill allowing Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to practice independently in Kansas. This removes barriers for existing health care providers and expands access to care.

• During the 2023 legislative session, Governor Kelly signed into law a bill doubling the number of available slots for student physicians interested in practicing primary care in rural areas of the state. This is a critical step towards ensuring Kansas graduates remain in the state to practice and raise a family.

Mental Health

• Because of Governor Kelly’s commitment to affordable, accessible mental health care, Kansas is among the first in the nation to implement two crucial pieces of legislation that dramatically modernize mental health treatment in the state. 
  • In 2021, Governor Kelly signed a bill that laid the groundwork for the most significant transformation of the Kansas community mental health system in decades. The bill established a new model for providing behavioral health services—the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC). This bill makes Kansas the first state to pass legislation identifying the CCBHC model as a solution to the mental health and substance use crisis. The Kelly administration has invested over $65 million in federal and state dollars toward implementing this program and, over the next two years, will bring 26 CCBHCs online.

• In 2022, Governor Kelly signed a bill to create the statewide infrastructure for the 9-8-8 suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. Additionally, she invested $10 million towards this initiative, ensuring it was ready to expeditiously serve Kansans in need.