Communications

(June 12, 2026) – The Kansas Hospital Association has been actively engaged in federal advocacy. Congress will be in session for most of June and July, with only a few breaks. This week, the House of Representatives made progress on key items in the fiscal year 2027 budget. The Senate passed the fiscal year 2027 reconciliation bill, the Secure America Act. The House passed it 214-212 on Tuesday, and President Donald Trump signed it into law. The bill will fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol, both of which have drawn controversy for the past three years. This removes these items as potential stumbling blocks to the passage of the rest of the FY 2027 budget.

On that note, the House Appropriations Committee continues to make progress. This week, the committee reported on the FY 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill. KHA worked with the Kansas Congressional Delegation on several key provisions in the legislation. In particular, we sought to protect funding for Rural Hospital Flexibility Grants and the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program, both of which were zeroed out in President Trump's budget report to Congress.

While the FY 2027 Labor-H bill includes many cuts to health agencies, programs related to rural health fared well, and the FLEX and SHIP grants were funded at the previous year's level. Additionally, the committee included language requested by KHA to address competitiveness challenges for rural hospitals, including reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetists and funding for graduate medical education slots at Sole Community and Medicare-Dependent Hospitals.

The text of these items, as found in the Committee Report, is provided below. The full text of the bill and the report are available at the following links: FY 2027 Labor-H Bill and FY2027 Labor-H Committee Report.

• FLEX Grants: The committee includes $75,000,000 for Flex grants. These programs help states support small, rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals in remaining economically viable and in providing high-quality care. Of the total provided for Flex grants, the committee includes at least $5,000,000 for the Rural Emergency Hospitals Technical Assistance Program and up to $23,442,000 for the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program. (Page 58)
• CRNAs: The committee is aware of challenges to patient access to anesthesia services, particularly in rural areas. Therefore, the committee supports the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in its continued consideration of the benefits of CRNAs providing services. (Page 175)
• SCH/MDH GME Funding Parity: The committee notes that SCHs and MDHs receive more than $70,000 less annually per resident in GME funding because of their Medicare reimbursement model. A 2024 study found that Prospective Payment System hospitals received a median annual payment of $179,442 per resident, while hospital-specific rates used by SCHs and MDHs averaged $107,294 per resident per year. The committee recognizes this disparity often results from SCHs and MDHs' inability to access indirect medical education payments. This situation puts SCHs and MDHs at a competitive disadvantage in attracting a prospective health care workforce to rural areas. The committee directs CMS to report to the committees of jurisdiction within 90 days of enactment of this Act with an analysis of policy options to achieve parity among PPS, SCH and MDH hospitals concerning GME payments. (Page 192)

While there is still much work to be done on the federal advocacy front, KHA will continue to engage with the Kansas Congressional Delegation to advance our policy initiatives. We encourage you to be active in these efforts as well. If you need any assistance, such as talking points or contact information, please let us know. We appreciate your involvement in strengthening Kansas hospitals and the communities we serve.
--Chad Austin