A group of Kansas lawmakers is seeking to sever Kansas from the authority of the Affordable Care Act.
Rep. Brett Hildabrand, R-Shawnee, introduced a bill at the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs this week that, if passed, would bring Kansas into the Health Care Compact, a group of states asking Congress to give them independence from the Affordable Care Act.
Hildabrand said the idea came from an e-mail conversation with Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, and Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Pilcher-Cook, chair of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, held hearings last week about Obamacare's impact on small businesses.
So far eight states, including Oklahoma and Missouri, have passed plans to join the compact. Hildabrand took his bill's template from the site healthcarecompact.org and said his bill is "identical in every way" to the ones passed in other states except for minor revisions to fit Kansas statute.
Bryan Lowry
Wichita Eagle