(Aug. 15, 2025) – On Monday, Aug. 11, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment submitted the response to the latest round of questions on the 2025 provider assessment preprint to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. CMS had clarified their instructions about trending forward the Medicaid base payments, which required a recalculation of the payment information for the preprint. The recalculation resulted in a shifting of funds between inpatient and outpatient enhancement pools, which means that the 2025 Q1 payment calculation will need to be updated. That recalculation, as well as the collection of the 2025 Q2 data and reconciliation of payment for calendar year 2024, are currently in process.
CMS also sent a list of questions for the 2026 preprint, which was submitted on June 30, 2025, to meet the grandfathering requirements of HR 1 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act). This has required KDHE to pull additional data for our contractors at HMA to update the calculations for 2026 as well. Updates on the anticipated impact of 2026 will be provided as soon as they are available.
KHA continues to work with our delegation to expedite the final decision on 2025. If you have any questions, please contact Audrey Dunkel at adunkel@kha-net.org or (785) 221-8789.
--Audrey Dunkel