To the editor:

The Sunday Journal-World article, “Rural Kansas hospitals may face jeopardy,” is an excellent forewarning of what may very well happen to a multitude of Kansas hospitals. This would be a huge blow to critical health care for many people who live in smaller cities.

What is not mentioned is another critical element to the financial survival of these hospitals, as well as undermining the financial support of larger, better funded hospitals, such as our Lawrence Memorial Hospital. That element is the governor’s decision to not expand eligibility for the state’s Medicaid program. This would cause a significant drop in the money hospitals receive to help care for patients who can’t pay their medical bills.

This subject has been discussed before in our paper, including the fact that the federal government would fully fund the expansion initially, eventually dropping to 90 percent. The governor suggests the state has no additional money to assist the poor with their health care needs.