By Heather Braum, Kansas Action for Children
The Kansas State Legislature’s 2026 session proved successful for one particular policy: updating state law to ensure more eligible Kansas kids can access health coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
To understand why a small change will make a big impact on Kansas families – picture this scenario: It’s 2019, and your child’s CHIP coverage is up for annual renewal. Your household income hasn’t changed at all from 2018, and you assume everything will go smoothly to continue that coverage. However, after submitting renewal paperwork, you receive notice that your child is no longer eligible and their coverage will be discontinued at the end of the month. Your child is now uninsured, and you don’t know what you’ll do to afford their health care.
What that Kansas family did not know is that from 2008 to 2022, Kansas’ household income eligibility threshold for CHIP slowly decreased each year, as this threshold was tied to 250% of the 2008 federal poverty level (FPL), all because of a seemingly innocuous phrase in Kansas law added nearly 20 years ago.
Every year following, the state was required to convert the eligibility percentage back to its equivalent of the 2008 federal poverty level. By 2021, it had declined to 225% FPL, and with inflation rapidly increasing the next few years, 2026 estimates predicted a percentage conversion to under 190%. Thousands of Kansas kids would have lost their CHIP coverage at this point.
When we started working on this issue in 2021 – identified by our national partner, the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families – we expected it to be a simple process to remove this year-specific reference from state law after identifying it was included in error. Yet, nothing is ever simple in the Kansas Legislature.
For nearly five years, politics out of our control, federal policy changes, and other issues prevented passage of what was dubbed the “CHIP eligibility fix.” Even so, lawmakers found a temporary solution beginning in 2022 to fix this issue one year at a time through the state’s budget process.
Finally, the 2026 session became the right opportunity at the right time to remove this error from state law when the Kansas Legislature unanimously passed SB 271 and the Governor signed the bill, cementing it into state law.
As we look back on our five years of work on this policy, we’re reflecting on what it took to finally get it across the finish line. (Read more about the history and lessons learned on the KAC blog here.)
While it took nearly five years to push the CHIP eligibility fix legislation across the finish line, the process and the lessons we learned along the way have broader implications.
Good policy can pass, no matter the political party in charge. And while the approach we followed took longer and wasn’t flashy or frequently within the public view, sometimes waiting for the right people and the right moment results in success.
At the end of the day, we are proud of the impact we made for the nearly 58,000 eligible Kansas kids with CHIP coverage who won’t be cut off because of a drafting error in the original law, and we thank the numerous lawmakers who championed this solution these last five years.
The work is never over, as Kansas kids and families continue to face numerous challenges in affording and accessing health care. But we are pleased to celebrate this significant victory in 2026 – especially for the thousands of Kansas kids impacted now and into the future.
Heather Braum is the Kansas Action for Children Senior Policy Advisor. She focuses on Medicaid and CHIP health insurance for kids and families, as well as immunization and maternal health policy.
