By Clay Wirestone Kansas Reflector
Here is what we know: The gargantuan budget reconciliation package making its way through Congress will kick thousands of Kansans off Medicaid and cost the state鈥檚 hospitals billions of dollars.
Here鈥檚 something else we know: U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, doesn鈥檛 deny those facts.
But he still voted for the bill.
Moran issued a statement after the Senate voted for President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥渙ne big, beautiful bill鈥 early Tuesday. What鈥檚 remarkable about the senator鈥檚 words are not what they say, but what they don鈥檛 say.
I encourage everyone to take a look at the text. Here鈥檚 an enlightening paragraph.
鈥淎s this legislation was being drafted, I worked to make certain hospitals in Kansas were at the forefront of these discussions. After numerous discussions with Kansas hospital leaders, my colleagues and Administrator Oz, I was able to make changes to the legislation to make certain Kansas hospitals will not face any immediate cuts upon enactment of this legislation.鈥
Notice, again, what Moran omits. He doesn鈥檛 deny that Kansas hospitals will face cuts. He can鈥檛, because he knows they will. Instead, he says they won鈥檛 face any immediate cuts.
That鈥檚 like saying I don鈥檛 face an immediate risk of death from the train hurtling toward my stalled car on the tracks. I might feel fine in the moment, but I鈥檒l be squashed in no time.
Moran goes on:
鈥淭hese provisions will protect Kansas鈥 ability to continue pursuing its application for increased Medicaid payments for certain providers. This change ensures that as state directed payments wind down, Kansas providers will be starting at a higher percentage of enhanced payments buying them much-needed time to utilize federal dollars as payments are reduced.鈥
Notice how many conditionals have been piled into this paragraph. Kansas can 鈥渃ontinue pursuing鈥 an application for increased payments. That doesn鈥檛 mean the state is going to actually receive such payments. And who will those increased payments go to? Well, certain providers. That doesn鈥檛 mean everyone.
And what鈥檚 with the 鈥渕uch-needed time鈥? It鈥檚 much needed because, as Moran says later in the sentence, payments will be reduced. All of this should raise the eyebrows of critical readers. Why shouldn鈥檛 Moran support the enhanced payments and oppose the other cuts? I think that 鈥淩鈥 after his name might provide a clue.
鈥淚 also secured a one-year delay in the implementation of reductions to state directed payments to give Kansas providers more time to access these resources. Finally, I pushed for the establishment of a rural provider fund to aid rural hospitals facing significant financial challenges. These changes and investments, along with tax cuts for Kansas families, will bolster our economy and strengthen the safety of our nation.鈥
Yes, the legislation passed by the U.S. Senate includes a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals. However, it鈥檚 worth digging into the details. That money will be paid out over five years and available to all 50 states. Given that Kansas hospitals will experience a $2.65 billion drop over 10 years, basic math suggests that that federal money won鈥檛 go far enough.
Finally, it鈥檚 important to note two items that Moran鈥檚 statement leaves out entirely.
He does not call the piece of legislation the 鈥渙ne big, beautiful bill.鈥 He instead refers to it as 鈥淪enate budget reconciliation legislation.鈥 The senator apparently wants to distance himself from Trump and any bombast surrounding this package. However, he still voted for it.
Most disappointingly, Moran makes no mention whatsoever of the 13,000 Kansans who will lose insurance coverage through this package. Indeed, he does not mention Medicaid recipients a single time in his statement.
Farmers, yes. The border, yes. Air traffic controllers, sure.
But poor people who need health insurance? Nah.
Moran has built a lot of goodwill across Kansas. His prairie pragmatism still contrasts positively to the MAGA theatrics of U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall. But that post-passage statement relies on narrow, legalistic arguments to pitch a package that will harm the state he purports to represent.
Real people鈥檚 lives and communities are on the line here. Trump鈥檚 administration has asked lawmakers to play reverse Robin Hood, snatching benefits from the poor to benefit the rich.
All the carefully tailored language in the world won鈥檛 change that.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.