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Minutes for SB225 - Committee on Ways and Means
Short Title
Amending the hospital provider assessment rate and uses and membership of the healthcare access improvement panel.
Minutes Content for Wed, Mar 20, 2019
Chairperson McGinn opened the hearing on SB 225. David Wiese provided an overview of the bill. (Attachment 5)
Audrey Dunkel, Kansas Hospital Association, spoke in support of the bill. Currently the funds generated under the Health Care Access Improvement Program (HCAIP) are distributed with not less than 80% going to hospitals. When the State went to managed care, it became far more difficult to determine where payments went. Her organization worked with KDHE and a third party to determine if the HCAIP program was overspending its resources, which they were. KHA had a meeting of a cross-section of hospitals (urban, rural, for-profit and non-profit) to work on a solution and this bill is the result. Ms. Dunkel responded to questions from Committee members. (Attachment 6)
Phil Harness, Physician Hospitals of Kansas, testified in opposition to the bill. This process came under scrutiny several years ago regarding how the Act is administered and whether the fund was being overspent including a 2018 Legislative Post Audit. His organization has several concerns with the provisions of the bill including that it seems to be a spending problem instead of a revenue problem and that fewer than half of hospitals are required to pay this tax. Mr. Harness responded to questions from Committee members. (Attachment 7)
There being no further conferees, Chairperson McGinn closed the hearing on SB 225.
