Lawmakers in the Kansas House broke a stranglehold on Medicaid expansion movement and gave first-round approval Wednesday to a plan to extend health care coverage to 130,000 low-income Kansans. Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, D-Kansas City, put the plan in play by gutting legislation crafted by House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican and outspoken opponent of Medicaid expansion, and securing enough bipartisan support to overcome a rules objection. GOP leadership throughout the session has blocked a Medicaid expansion bill from getting a hearing, and Wolfe Moore said her amendment on the floor was the only way to secure a debate on the issue...
