By Andy Marso
As a 25-year member of a Wichita Shriners Club, Rep. Dan Hawkins has seen what private charity can do for those who can’t afford medical care. In addition to their social activities, the Shriners are well-known for the national network of 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children — facilities that use private donations to provide medical care for children regardless of their families’ ability to pay. “That’s what Shriners do,” Hawkins said.
“That’s their big thing. All their money goes toward those hospitals.” Hawkins, a Republican from Wichita who is an insurance agent in his private life, was named chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee this year.
His political philosophy on health care matters is one that prefers relying on private charity care like that provided by the Shriners hospitals rather than increasing the share of medical care paid for by the government.
“If we had more groups that did that, it would be awesome,” Hawkins said. “If you go back in time, there were a lot of groups that helped with social service-type items. And then at some point in time the government stepped in and said, ‘We’re taking control of that.’”
Hawkins said he agreed with a statement former Rep. Lance Kinzer made on the House floor last year about expanding government crowding out private social work with taxes and spending.
“I would love to see that go back,” Hawkins said. “Can it? Who knows. That’s just a tough question.”
Hawkins was first elected to the Legislature in 2012.
He won his bid for re-election last fall by 40 points, running on a platform that included unwavering opposition to the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare.
“I am opposed to Obamacare and all of its parts,” Hawkins’ campaign website said. “I believe that government has no business providing healthcare.”
In an interview this week, Hawkins clarified that his opposition to government health care does not extend to Medicare, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals or TRICARE. He said his campaign statement applies only to the reforms that President Barack Obama spearheaded in 2010.
“I liked the system the way we had it before,” Hawkins said. He stood by his opposition to all parts of the health reform law, including more popular provisions like allowing people up to age 26 to remain covered by their parents’ health insurance and prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
Though insurance companies agreed to the trade-offs in the bill and supported its passage, Hawkins said forcing them to serve those with existing medical conditions inevitably will increase premiums for all. “When you put unhealthy people in there, there’s only one place for the premiums to go and that’s up,” he said. Hawkins said that before the ACA passed, Kansans unable to get private insurance because of an underlying medical condition could obtain coverage through Kansas Health Insurance Association in Great Bend.
“That was that safety net for people who had pre-existing health conditions,” Hawkins said. “I’m one of those, and there was a period of time I didn’t have group insurance and I couldn’t get individual insurance. That’s where I went.” Those deemed uninsurable could also obtain coverage through a high-risk pool administered by the state at a cost significantly higher than regular policies. Hawkins replaced Rep.
David Crum, a Republican from Augusta, as chairman of the House health committee. Crum, who decided not to run for re-election, had said that his choice for a successor would have been Rep. Susan Concannon, a Beloit Republican who served as vice chairman. Concannon, whose husband is a physician at a critical access hospital, said she was open to having hearings on Medicaid expansion under the ACA if she became chairman.
House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Republican from Stilwell, chose Hawkins instead. In the absence of other hearings on Medicaid expansion, the House’s Vision 2020 Committee has taken up the issue.
But Merrick has said any bill to expand Medicaid must go through the health committee that Hawkins chairs. Hawkins said that despite his opposition to the ACA, he has not completely closed the door to having hearings on some kind of an expansion bill. But any bill he supports would have to be significantly different than the approach called for in the ACA of extending eligibility to all Kansans who earn less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level — annually $16,105 for an individual and $32,913 for a family of four.
“Instead of just saying ‘no,’ we need to come up with a plan,” Hawkins said. “So while everybody in the media may be saying, ‘Dan Hawkins is against it,’ we’re out there working. We’re working on a conservative plan.” Beyond Medicaid expansion, Hawkins’ committee has other weighty issues to consider. He has scheduled a hearing Thursday on a “Right to Try” bill that would provide patients with terminal illnesses easier access to experimental drugs.
Hawkins said he’s also interested in hearings on a bill to expand the care the state’s nurse practitioners are allowed to provide, and he hasn’t ruled out hearings on a medical marijuana bill, but said he’d prefer one that is narrower than the two that have been introduced this session. “Every bill that comes through the committee, I’m looking at it,” Hawkins said.
Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.