Health reform has not played such a dominant role in public debate and policymaking for nearly 20 years. While there is growing agreement that fundamental changes must be made given the growing costs of health care and the toll that takes on individuals and the economy, there is still wide disagreement on what meaningful reform should entail. KHI researchers and journalists monitor and report on health reform efforts at the state and federal levels.
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Full text of the president's speech on health reform given Wednesday in the East Room at the White House to a crowd of doctors, nurses and other medical providers.
0 | Dec. 14, 2009 |
Health reform has been a primary topic of discussion over the past several months. Although lawmakers completed work on the U.S. House bill several weeks ago, debate on the U.S. Senate bill is ongoing. As the legislative process unfolds and more details about the bills are released, state policymakers are working to identify and anticipate how the legislation may impact Kansas.
0 | Nov. 08, 2009 |
Health policy can be affected by a number of factors, including political and personal beliefs; governmental structures and public opinion.
0 | Nov. 01, 2009 |
States will play an important role in carrying out the reforms of the health care system that are now being debated by Congress. Information from the National Academy for State Health Policy is available to help states better understand what they may be tasked with in the coming months.
0 | Nov. 01, 2009 |
The Kaiser Family Foundation has developed an interactive tool for users to compare various components of the health reform proposals that are now being debated by Congress.
0 | Feb. 14, 2008 |
Several states are using reinsurance programs to stabilize small group markets and expand access to health insurance coverage. This issue brief explains reinsurance and discusses how it might be used as part of a broader set of health reforms in Kansas.
0 | Mar. 11, 2010 |
A proposed constitutional amendment meant to protect Kansans from a possible "individual mandate" to have health insurance "is a symbolic measure and nothing more," according to a KU law professor who clerked under U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Byron White.
0 | Mar. 04, 2010 |
President Obama is likely to have the support of only one Kansas member of Congress for his new health reform proposal. But even that remains uncertain.
0 | Mar. 03, 2010 |
Full text of the president's speech on health reform given Wednesday in the East Room at the White House to a crowd of doctors, nurses and other medical providers.
0 | Mar. 02, 2010 |
Sponsors said a proposed rewrite of the state constitution was needed to let the federal government know Kansans don't want to be told they must buy health insurance. But opponents say it was a plan created by the health insurance industry to preserve a failed status quo.
0 | Feb. 25, 2010 |
President's health reform summmit draws mixed response from Kansas Republican leaders. Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger liked some Democrat and some Republican ideas. Sen. Pat Roberts and Congressman Jerry Moran said they saw no progress.
0 | Mar. 12, 2010 |
The association that represents community programs for the developmentally disabled filed a mandamus action Friday with the Kansas Supreme Court asking for an immediate rollback of Medicaid and other budget cuts.
0 | Mar. 11, 2010 |
Some of the Legislature's strongest supporters of early childhood development programs signed off on sharp cuts in children's programs, re-emphasizing the signal from Senate GOP leaders that tax increases will be necessary.
0 | Mar. 11, 2010 |
The Senate Ways and Means Committee on Thursday upheld proposed cuts in the budgets of the Kansas Health Policy Authority and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.
0 | Jun. 05, 2007 |
Enrollment in the free and reduced price school meals program could help identify children who are eligible for public health insurance.
0 | Mar. 11, 2010 |
A bill that sets the stage for requiring state-regulated insurance plans to cover autism was heard Wednesday in the Senate insurance committee.
0 | Mar. 09, 2010 |
“My mother had a habit of leaving me – when I was 10 years old -- with my four brothers and sisters while my dad was in rehab for a week or two at a time,” Rachel Perkins, 19, said Monday during testimony before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee.
1 | Mar. 02, 2010 |
Medical providers and others are anxiously waiting to see what the Kansas Supreme Court will do about the state's $250,000 cap on awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases.
1 | Feb. 16, 2010 |
“We’re not reaching the people we need to be reaching with our existing programs,” said Steve Denny, who runs an outreach program for seniors at the Independence-based Four County Mental Health Center.
1 | Feb. 02, 2010 |
Legislators this week are holdings hearings on a proposal that would mean stricter standards for some home day care centers.
1 | Jan. 25, 2010 |
Last year, nine of the state’s 27 community mental health centers spent more money than they took in.
1 | Jan. 11, 2010 |
Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, unveiled key details of a budget plan that calls for raising the state sales tax one cent and boosting tobacco taxes to forestall deeper cuts to schools and to roll back cuts in Medicaid provider rates. But Republican leaders said it would be a bad idea to raise taxes during a recession.