TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) — Advocates of expanding Medicaid in Kansas under the federal health care overhaul have intensified their campaign to persuade state officials to embrace the idea.

The Kansas Medicaid Access Coalition presented petitions favoring an expansion to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s office Wednesday. The petitions had almost 2,800 signatures.

The 2010 federal law encourages states to broaden Medicaid coverage for the needy and disabled by promising the federal government will cover nearly all of the additional costs.

Brownback is a critic of the federal law but has said that he’ll leave a decision on expanding Medicaid to the Republican-controlled Legislature. Many GOP lawmakers are skeptical the federal government will keep its funding promises.

The Kansas Medicaid Access Coalition has 40 member groups, including AARP Kansas and Kansas Action for Children.