Kari M. Bruffett, KHI director of policy, provides neutral testimony to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday, February 14, 2018.
On February 14, 2018, Kari M. Bruffett, KHI director of policy, provided neutral testimony and background information to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee regarding Senate Bill 38, the KanCare Bridge to a Healthy Kansas program.
Testimony included an enrollment estimate, which utilized detailed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) for 2016, the latest available data. KHI estimates that an expansion of KanCare under the existing terms of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would add 145,000 beneficiaries, including 95,000 adults age 19-64 and nearly 50,000 children.
The testimony also included a profile of the employment status of the 95,000 adults who would be projected to newly enroll if KanCare were expanded. According to the Census data, about 64,000, or two-thirds, were employed at some point during the year. Just more than a quarter, or 26,000, reported working at least 30 hours a week for the entire year.