�鶹Ů��

The effort to expand Medicaid in Kansas fell apart Monday as the House failed to override Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of a bill that would have expanded the health care program to thousands of low-income people in the state. (Woodall, 4/3)

In spite of a torrent of phone calls and in-person pleas from constituents over the weekend, and last-minute lobbying by hospital leaders who said that expanding Medicaid would help save a number of rural hospitals from closing, the vote was 81 to 44, three short of the two-thirds majority needed for an override. (Goodnough and Smith, 4/3)

Two House members who supported the bill in February changed their votes Monday during the override attempt. ... Two Republican House members who opposed Medicaid expansion in February — Rep. Fred Patton of Topeka and Rep. Troy Waymaster of Bunker Hill — flipped their votes and voted for the override. (Wingerter, 4/3)

A few rural Republicans whose support could have led lawmakers to override the veto questioned whether their struggling hospitals would have seen as much benefit from an expansion as urban areas. They also worried that extra costs associated with an expansion would hinder efforts to close projected state budget shortfalls totaling more than $1 billion through June 2019. (Hanna, 4/3)

Melika Willoughby, Brownback’s communications director, said House members “served their constituents well today.” “While Congress and the President continue to discuss the future of health care, not expanding Obamacare is the right choice for Kansas,” she said in a statement. (Salazar, 4/3)