Kansas Health Reform

On November 1, at the Joint Committee on Health Policy Oversight hearing, Marci Nielsen, Executive Director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority, presented a report on health reform options to the Governor and Legislature.  Below are sound-bites from Marci Nielsen on health reform in Kansas. 

Track 1: Comments on expanding coverage to low-income Kansans

Track 2: Comments on health reform options to help small businesses

Track 3: Comments on the impact these options will have on Kansas’ uninsured

Track 4: Comments on the proposal of a statewide Community Health Record

Track 5: Comments on the legislators’ response to today’s report

Track 6: Comments on the proposal of a statewide smoking ban and increase in tobacco user fee

Track 7: Comments on the proposal for standardization of insurance cards

Track 8: Comments on the Legislature’s need to debate health reform

Track 9: Comments on rising health care costs

PUBLIC INPUT: WE HEARD YOU!

FEATURED INFORMATION

• Recommended Health Reform Options Aimed to Improve Kansans’ Health October 16, 2007



• KHPA Board Recommendations for Kansas Health Reform - October 19, 2007



• Health Reform Fact Sheet
  
  
• Health Reform Frequently Asked Questions:
  Health Reform in Kansas
  The Kansas Health Reform Process
  What Problems will be Addressed?
  Development of the KHPA Health Reform Plan Options
  
  
• October 24, 2007 - Kansas Health Reform to Focus on Those Most in Need - Arneatha Martin, MSN, ARNP - KHPA Board Member
  
  
• October 16, 2007 - Recommended Health Reform Options Aimed to Improve Kansans’ Health
  
  
• October 2, 2007 - Rural Communities Feel the Strain of Emergency Room Overuse - Susan Page, KHPA Board Member
  
  
• September 12, 2007 - Preventive Health Care Over A Lifetime - Dr. Vernon Mills, KHPA Board Member
  
  
• August 28, 2007 - Prevention Among Elderly Can Yield Financial Savings - by Garen Cox, KHPA Board Member
  
  
• August 1, 2007 - Kansas Recognized for Health Reform Efforts
  
  
• July 31, 2007 - System Changes Enhance Quality of Health Care in Kansas - by Connie Hubbell, Chair of the Kansas Health Policy Authority
  
  
• July 17, 2007 - Why Kansas Needs Health Reform
  
  
• May 16, 2007 - Health Reform Column: Kansas-Specific Solutions for Health Reform
  
  
• April 25, 2007 - KHPA: First Steps to Broad Health Reform is Good News for Kansans
  
  
• April 18, 2007 - Health Reform Starts Now!
  
  
• March 20, 2007 - KHPA Board Sends to Legislature Health Reform Plan to Decrease Number of Uninsured Kansans
  
  
• 2007 Short Term and Long Term Consensus Package
  
  
• Premium Assistance Fact Sheet
  
  
• Summary of House Substitute for SB 11

WHY KANSAS NEEDS HEALTH REFORM

Increasingly Kansans are expressing growing concern about access to affordable health insurance.

• Over two-thirds of uninsured full time working adults in Kansas are employed by firms with less than 25 people.
• Seventy-eight percent of Kansans feel that funding programs that help small businesses find affordable health insurance is an extremely or very important priority for the state’s health care agenda.*

• Thirty to forty percent of every dollar spent in the U.S. on health care is spent on overuse, underuse, misuse, and duplication.
• Kansas obesity rates have steadily increased over the last decade for adolescents and adults.  Obesity contributes to a number of health problems, including diabetes and heart disease.  If the current trend continues, by 2020 one out of four healthcare dollars will pay for obesity related treatments.
• Many Kansans continue to use tobacco.  Twenty percent of adult Kansans smoke contributing to 3,800 deaths annually and $180.4 million in total Medicaid expenditures.

The KHPA goals for health reform in Kansas aim to improve health and pay for smarter health care. We are developing reform options to provide and protect affordable health insurance for all Kansans, pay for prevention and a primary care medical home in order to improve health outcomes, coordinate care, and drive down health care costs, and promote personal responsibility to embrace healthy behaviors, contribute to the cost of health insurance, and use health care dollars more wisely.

DEVELOPING A HEALTH REFORM PLAN

This summer, the Health Policy Authority Board conducted a listening tour to visit with Kansans about providing and protecting affordable health insurance, the prevention of illness before it starts, and taking personal responsibility for our health, as individuals and as communities.  In the fall, the Kansas Health Policy Authority Board, along with the Health for All Kansans Steering Committee, will put together health reform options for the Governor and Legislature to consider during the 2008 Kansas Legislature.  These health reform options will be informed by the work of four advisory councils, which has already begun. 

As outlined by Senate Bill 11, among the many reform options we will be studying, KHPA will explore a health insurance connector which creates a marketplace where Kansans could shop from a selection of policies.  As each option is considered, an economic analysis will be conducted to demonstrate the cost and impact on Kansans.   The approach to health reform will be data-driven with thoughtful analysis and stakeholder input.  The Legislature and Governor have outlined a process for the Health Policy Authority to develop health reform options that invest in the future of Kansas. 

We invite your input and your perspective!