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Even though both the Kansas and Missouri legislatures are out of their regular sessions for the year, there’s still a lot happening in both states. Not to mention that the work at the local level continues year around — so we have some more updates to send your way.
Our team at Health Forward works every day to support and build inclusive, powerful, and healthy communities characterized by racial equity and economically just systems.
In addition to this update, we will soon release an advocacy toolkit available on our website including templates for written testimony, public comment, lobbying tracking, and other issue educational materials to better support our partners’ advocacy efforts.
And during this critical election year, Health Forward is happy to have supported the non-partisan KC Voter’s Guide provided by a media collective of local news outlets. It includes a comprehensive guide to all the elections in the Kansas City region.
Here’s what we’re watching and advocating for in Kansas and Missouri:
Right at the end of May, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) formally announced that services from Community Health Workers (CHWs) reimbursed through Medicaid would be more than doubled from their previous rates. This is a significant win outside of the legislature.
CHWs are an essential member of a comprehensive care team. They address social drivers of health such as better access to nutritious foods, housing supports, and transportation, among many other things. On top of improving patient outcomes, CHWs provide a return on investment of nearly $2.50 for each dollar spent to support them. Health Forward and more than 30 organizations working in Kansas sent a letter to the KDHE Secretary Janey Stanek thanking her and the entirety of KDHE for adopting the change.
Just because the legislature is out of session doesn’t mean legislators aren’t looking at some of the bigger issues affecting us in the region. Kansas will be hosting a special interim legislative committee on Available and Affordable Housing. At this point, there is not much official information available, but the general understanding is that the committee will convene on Nov. 20-21 of this year.
If you are unfamiliar with interim committees, they are important to keep an eye on because they can provide a preview of what will likely be prioritized in the next session, as well as potential policy approaches. Additionally, they give a chance for Health Forward and our partners to provide information to legislators and build relationships that could move the needle on advocacy in the upcoming session. If you’d like to learn more beforehand, please review the resources – including candidate surveys on housing – from the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition.
On a local level, municipal governments have been busy over the summer months considering legislation that will impact access to affordable housing. Here’s what they’ve been working on:
Johnson County
Allen County
Wyandotte County
This past June, Missouri began to send out notices to the last batch of people who needed to reapply for Medicaid after the federal government ended the COVID-19 public health emergency. This allowed for people to stay continuously enrolled, but with the ending of the public health emergency the state began to reach out to individuals to reverify their eligibility in the program.
Last year, Health Forward provided supports for the outreach effort to keep people enrolled.
Overall, the unwinding, as it’s known, has been a bit of a rough road. As of July 2024, there are around 236,000 fewer people on Medicaid — including around 137,000 children – than in June 2023. Nearly 80% of people were disenrolled from the program due to processing issues, not because they were ineligible, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. What’s more, there is uncertainty about whether the Medicaid budget will be fully funded to get through the next year’s legislative session.
Gov. Mike Parson signed SB 895 and HB 2062 into law on July 12, both of which ban local governments from placing a moratorium on evictions. Health Forward testified against HB 2062 as it takes away a tool for local communities to make their own decisions on how best to meet the needs of their residents, especially during a public health crisis. While we are disappointed that this legislation passed and was signed into law, we will continue to work with partners to ensure that people and families are able to find and maintain quality, safe, and affordable housing to meet their needs. The bill took effect on Aug. 28.
An important aspect of the Missouri legislature is that they prefile bills starting Dec. 1 prior to the official legislative session start date of Jan. 8, 2025. Prefiling simply means that legislators submit legislation they’d like to see considered, beginning Dec. 1. Typically, bills are heard in committees and worked through the legislative process in the order they are filed. This also gives Health Forward and partners a chance to review legislation and begin planning our advocacy work for the session.
Kansas City
Jackson County
Cass County
Lafayette County