A Martin Luther King Day Message from Chair Jeanna Repass

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. History is shaped and our futures created by visionaries like Dr. King. Today, it’s especially important to reflect on his legacy and use it to guide our future forward. 

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane.” 

-–– Martin Luther King Jr., 1966

In Kansas, it hits our marginalized communities of color and our rural communities the hardest. In 2022, Black Kansans had a 10.5% uninsured rate. White Kansans held a 6.3% uninsured rate. The uninsured rate in rural areas was 15.3%, compared to metropolitan areas’ 12.6%.

Systemic racism, oppression, and villainization of poverty all make it harder for our most vulnerable neighbors to access healthcare. 

We have nearly 264,000 Kansans without health insurance. That’s 264,000 mothers, fathers, siblings, friends. People that live next door to you. People that serve you at restaurants, or help you with your taxes. 

All people deserve quality healthcare, no matter their race, age, gender, or socioeconomic status. 

I’m perhaps most inspired by this quote from Dr. King: “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” 

We cannot instantly do the great thing of snapping inequality. But we can do small things to make a great impact, and to push us towards a more beautiful and just future. Passing Medicaid expansion is one of those things. 

Today, we need to honor Dr. King’s legacy by continuing to fight injustice and inequality. It starts with bringing Medicaid expansion to the floor. It’s time to make a better Kansas for all.