Sam Brownback, the new face of losing on Obamacare.
Sam Brownback, the new face of losing on Obamacare.
Let's call this a trend now: Democrats are
turning around the narrative on Obamacare, and talking about its benefits, even in places like
Alaska and
Louisiana and
Arkansas. And Kansas, too, where Democrats have put a
pro-Obamacare plan into the state party platform, focusing specifically on Medicaid expansion.
The party platform, adopted Friday at the state party's annual DemoFest convention in Wichita, includes a list of benefits the law has provided, such as allowing parents to carry their children on family policies up to age 26 and requiring insurance companies to provide coverage despite a person's pre-existing conditions.
"However, certain provisions that make the ACA workable have not been enacted in Kansas — notably the expansion of Medicaid coverage to thousands of eligible persons. Kansas Democrats will work to expand Medicaid coverage in Kansas," the platform states. […]
"When they understand the number of uninsured in Kansas is going up instead of down, and when they understand how many millions (of dollars) were given back because premiums were lowered because of the Affordable Care Act, they're going to figure out, hey, something good happened," [state party chairwoman Joan] Wagnon said. "And it did, and I am tired of making excuses for it."
It's featuring particularly (and appropriately) for Dennis Anderson, the Democratic candidate for insurance commissioner. In a really smart move, he and other Democrats have been blasting the highly unpopular Gov. Sam Brownback for his refusal to accept the Medicaid expansion and are labeling his plan to privatize both Medicare and Medicaid "BrowbackCare." In Anderson's words, "BrownbackCare is built on denying people affordable medical care, and takes the well being of millions of Kansans and our senior citizens, and makes it a blank check made out to our governor."
Kansas has more than 57,000 people who gained insurance coverage through the law, and at least 100,000 more who have fallen into the Medicaid gap and remain uninsured. Kansas Democrats think that's a potent political issue. They're right.
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