The Chair opened the hearing on HB2736.  Assistant Revisor Ma gave an overview of the bill and stood for questions. (Attachment 5)

Peter Pitts, President, Center for Medicine in Public Interest gave proponent testimony virtually.  The conferee believed this bill would establish a clear, reasonable, and patient-centered requirement that non-disproportionate share hospitals proactively screen patients for eligibility for financial assistance and charity care before billing or initiating collections.  Furthermore, the conferee addressed the fact that nonprofit hospitals spend less on charity care than the estimated value of their tax exemptions.(Attachment 6)

Proponent, written only, testimony was provided by:

• Dana Bacon, Senior Director, State Government Affairs, Blood Cancer United, affirms the bill will help blood cancer patients and others by ensuring not only that patients are properly screen for charity care eligibility, but that they also have the protection of state law on their side if they are not screened. (Attachment 7)
• Megan Word, Government Relations Director, Kansas and Nebraska American Society Cancer Action Network reiterated that medical debt impacts health outcomes; People with medical debt are more likely to delay or forego care due to cost, which is associated with increased mortality risk among cancer survivors.(Attachment 8)

There were no neutrals present.

Opponent testimony, in person, was provided by:  

• Tara Mays, Vice President of State Legislative Relations, Kansas Hospital Association (KHA). While the KHA supports fair billing practices, financial transparency and access to charity care for patients experiencing financial hardship; the KHA has serious concerns related to implementation feasibility, legal liability, and unintended financial consequences for hospitals of all sizes, but particularly for community and rural hospitals.    (Attachment 9)

Opponent testimony was provided virtually by:

• Trice Watts, Chief Executive Officer, Greeley County Health Services, expressed two major concerns with this bill; 1). existing patient protections already address concerns related to credit reporting, and 2). the billing directly conflicts with contractual obligations hospitals have with payers, creating serious legal and operational risk. (Attachment 10)
• Tori Bowers, Chief Financial Officer, Memorial Health Systems, Abilene, believes the bill has unintended risks for small and/or rural community hospitals; including, but not limited to, hiring additional staff; diverting staff from critical patient care; information technology modifications all while hospitals are currently in financial stress. Additionally, many patients in rural areas are reluctant to provide person financial data. (Attachment 11)

Opponents providing written only testimony include the following:

• William Wilk, Senior Director of Government Affairs, Kansas Chamber basically suggested the compliance with burdensome regulations would cost additional money which would ultimately result in higher health care premiums on employer sponsored health plans.   (Attachment 12)
• Reagan Cussimanio, The University of Kansas Healthcare System (UKHS), opposed the bill mainly because the UKHS already maintains financial assistance policies, it is operationally difficult to complete eligibility screening before sending a bill, disrupting revenue flow and could invite litigation or opportunistic claims. (Attachment 13)
• Nicole Milo, Regional Director Government & Community Affairs, Mountain Region Common Spirit Health requested additional clarity with respect to language contained in the bill, primarily to the screening of patients; all patients, or just uninsured patients.  (Attachment 14)

The Chair closed the hearing on HB2736