Moving toward health care reform

    The Legislature adopted a package of health care reforms this session but left much of the plan unfunded, the executive director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority said Thursday.
    And that worries her.
    "Obviously, if you're going to push a health reform agenda, it's very important to fund the initiatives that they agreed upon in that compromise," Dr. Marcia Nielsen said in a phone interview. "So we have some concerns about harms that the agency might suffer as a result of unfunded mandates. We'll be looking for some clarification from legislators to understand what their expectations are."
    But Rep. Pat George, R-Dodge City, said he thought the bill was a good first step toward health care reform.
    "I thought we put forth some good legislation that will help the people of Kansas," he said Friday.
    Before the legislative session began, the Health Policy Authority proposed a 21-point plan that included a statewide ban on smoking in most public places and an increase in tobacco taxes. The tax increase, which would have helped pay for the plan, would have included adding 50 cents to the price of a pack of cigarettes.
    But lawmakers shied away from the thought of raising tobacco taxes and discarded many of the Health Policy Authority's recommendations.
    Instead, they approved a more modest package that expands eligibility for an unfunded children's health insurance program, provides more medical care for poor pregnant women and allows more people to use pre-tax earnings to pay for health insurance.
    The final package included nine of the authority's proposals but only funded one, a program that promotes physical activity and nutrition for students, the authority said in a recent news release.
    House MInority Leader Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, said he was disappointed that some of the authority's ideas for health care reform were not included in the final package.
    "It was so frustrating to have them develop a plan and have them put so much work — they gained input from businesses, from insurers, from a variety of groups," he said Friday. "And it seemed like we a little too readily discarded their plan."
    McKinney described the final package as a small step toward health care reform.
    But House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, said he thought the Legislature did a good job with the bill, considering the state's financial situation. He pointed to several elements of the final package, including:
    • A program encouraging pregnant women to stop smoking.
    • A plan to make more poor pregnant women eligible for Medicaid.
    • Additional funding for safety net clinics, which provide health care for uninsured Kansans.
    • A program providing  dental care for poor pregnant women.
    "I think what the Legislature did was an outstanding job of covering the most critical issues with limited resources," Neufeld said.

Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or e-mail him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com.