HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There will be a public forum on Expanding KanCare and the implications for state and health coverage at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Hutchinson Public Library, 901 N. Main, from the members and supporters of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas.

According to promoters, the Hutchinson forum will discuss how the rejection of KanCare expansion — a decision by the governor and legislature — is costing our state jobs, economic stimulus, and access to affordable health coverage.

The forum is an opportunity for local business owners, faith leaders, doctors, uninsured workers and other concerned community members to discuss and learn more about the importance of expanding KanCare and just how much they say our state stands to lose without it. The claim is that the inaction in Topeka has cost our state $2.2 billion and thousands of jobs at a time when our state needs it most.

“Expanding KanCare is crucial to our state’s economic future, and it would help more than 150,000 Kansans gain affordable health coverage,” said David Jordan, executive director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, which is helping organize community forums around the state. “That’s why we’re building this effort, to unite our voices and urge elected officials to act now.”

Polls show that over 75 percent of Kansans support a budget-neutral KanCare expansion plan. Such a plan was introduced this year in the legislature, but House and Senate leaders refused to vote on the plan, or even debate it. Legislators who expressed willingness to consider the bill were marginalized.

Since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in June 2012, states have had the option of expanding their federally funded Medicaid programs (called KanCare in Kansas) to cover more low-income families. So far, 31 states have done so. By law, expansion is funded by the federal government at no less than 90 percent. Kansas does not save money by refusing expansion. It simply gives up the opportunity to bring tax dollars back to our state.