(April 24, 2026) – This past week, I traveled to Washington, DC, with a large group of Kansas Hospital executives and government relations officers for the American Hospital Association's Annual Meeting. During the conference, we heard updates from AHA staff on key federal issues and presentations from luminaries, including CMS director Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jim VandeHei.
The highlight of our group, however, was visiting Capitol Hill to meet with members and staff of our state's congressional delegation. We met with every senator and representative from Kansas, thanked them for their support on issues such as securing CMS' approval of the state's provider tax, and discussed our concerns about both longstanding and emerging issues.
The future of the 340B program was a prominent topic in many of our conversations, and we discussed why a rebate model would be unworkable for Kansas providers. We believe the Senate's bipartisan group of 6, which includes Senator Moran, is getting closer to introducing its 340B Sustainability Act.
Medicare Advantage was also a central topic of conversation, and we were pleased by how well our delegation understands the need for various reforms, most notably the prior authorization processes used by MA plans. While we were encouraged by United Healthcare's announcement this week that it will not require prior authorizations for most rural providers, we will closely monitor how this will be implemented and believe it should apply to all hospitals. Further, we were encouraged that Senator Marshall intends to introduce even more stringent MA reform legislation that would prohibit MA plans from requiring reauthorizations once a plan of treatment has been approved, along with new prompt payment requirements.
We also updated our members of Congress on several issues, including the 2026 provider assessment preprint and the Rural Health Transformation Program. These updates were generally positive, but work remains to secure final approval for the enhanced provider assessment for CAHs/REHs and for a future RHTP distribution that mirrors Kansas' rural character. Additionally, we believe an REH 2.0 bill is forthcoming, as is a bill to reauthorize the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program.
Finally, it appears that Medicare site-neutral payment schemes are off the table as pay-fors for any reconciliation bill in the near term. Additionally, some in Congress are considering repealing the provision in this year's budget bill that requires off-campus HOPDs to have different identification numbers than their hospitals' main facility. It appears that the Administration is weighing how to implement it, and we reminded our delegation that it would be overly burdensome for hospitals and would do nothing but create hassles.
All in all, it was a successful trip, and I remain convinced that our congressional delegation looks first to our Kansas hospitals and KHA when assessing the implications of changes to federal health care policy. Thank you to the following hospitals for joining us at this year's AHA Annual Meeting: Minneola Healthcare; AdventHealth; Freeman Health System; NMC Health; Children's Mercy Kansas City; Stormont Vail Health; Salina Regional Health System; Rice Community Health; Saint Luke's Health System; The University of Kansas Health System; and Wesley Healthcare.
--Chad Austin