(Oct. 27, 2023) – It is hard to believe that November is right around the corner. With the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in sight, it also means the 2024 Kansas legislative session is fast approaching. Each year, the Kansas Hospital Association team travels across the state meeting with elected officials and hospital leaders to discuss the upcoming legislative priorities of the KHA membership. This year is no different as we are in the midst of hosting the KHA fall legislative dinners. While the focus is always on educating policymakers on the latest health care issues confronting Kansas hospitals, it also is a tremendous opportunity to connect our hospital leaders with elected officials in their region.
This year's legislative dinner events center around an important topic challenging nearly every Kansas hospital: hospital finances. The KHA team developed an innovative and creative approach to discussing hospital finances and advocacy issues. Through a board game simulation named "Take Your Chance on Hospital Finance," attendees have the opportunity to pretend they are hospital leaders or board members wrestling with real-life examples of financial challenges facing Kansas hospitals. Each participant is assigned to a hospital representing either a Critical Access Hospital, a rural prospective payment system hospital or an urban tertiary hospital. Through a series of rounds, each hospital is presented with a variety of realistic financial challenges, such as delayed insurance payments or workforce labor shortages. After evaluating a series of options facing the hospital, attendees must decide which hospital services they believe are essential enough to maintain or risk losing the service line to the potential financial detriment of a neighboring hospital. Lastly, every hospital is presented with a variety of legislative policy proposals that would help hospitals offset financial challenges. These legislative solutions range from Medicaid expansion to streamlining the prior authorization process, to protecting the 340B Drug Discount Program.
While my brief description does not do the board game simulation justice, I would encourage you to consider attending one of the upcoming KHA legislative dinner events. Not only will you be able to test your board game skills, but you will have the opportunity to join KHA in our advocacy efforts and highlight the local impact of the various legislative policy proposals.
Please mark your calendar and join us to test your skills by playing "Take Your Chance on Hospital Finance!"
- Monday, Oct. 30, 5:30-8:00 p.m., Southwind Golf & Dining, 77 Grandview Dr., Garden City
- Tuesday, Nov. 7, 5:30-8:00 p.m., Crestwood County Club, 304 W. Crestview Ave., Pittsburg
- Thursday, Nov. 16, 5:30-8:00 p.m., Hilton Garden Inn & Convention Center, 221 West 43rd St., Hays
- Wednesday, Dec. 13, 5:30-8:00 p.m., Thompson Barn, 11184 Lackman Rd., Lenexa
--Chad Austin