(February 2022) – The 2022 Kansas legislative session is underway. The most significant legislative accomplishment thus far has focused on the extension of the governor's emergency orders. The legislation continues many of the regulatory flexibilities for Kansas hospitals until January 2023. Other state legislative topics discussed included telehealth, violence against health care workers, medical marijuana and behavioral health. The 2022 legislative session is expected to involve many of these issues, as well as several unexpected topics.
On the federal advocacy front, Kansas Hospital Association staff have been working to include policy initiatives related to the vaccine requirements, 340B Drug Discount Program, Medicare sequestration, Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments and the hospital provider assessment program.
KHA appreciates our members engaging with their elected officials to share why key legislation is essential for serving your community's health care needs. Hospital trustees are an important part of our advocacy team. KHA has developed several legislative resources and communication tools to assist advocacy efforts. On the federal level, we want to draw your attention to KHA's new Federal Priorities brochure. For Kansas legislative issues we have the 2022 KHA Legislative Preview. This concise yet comprehensive publication provides a brief summary of issues considered last year and recent topics raised by legislators. KHA also produced the 2022 KHA Legislative Priorities brochure depicting our priorities for the upcoming session. The core legislative areas highlighted include 1) addressing workforce issues, 2) ensuring better care, and 3) reducing the cost of care. Within each of these areas, we identify important policies for Kansas hospitals.
In addition, trustees and all KHA members have the opportunity to stay informed on legislative happenings through our frequent Capitol Comments newsletter and Federal Advocate newsletter. KHA has transitioned our grassroots tool to a new platform, VoterVoice. This platform allows all KHA members, including trustees, to sign up for alerts, find legislation and connect with their elected officials via the web or cell phone. If you have not yet registered to receive these updates, click here to sign up.
We hope you will join us in our advocacy efforts. We encourage you to reach out to KHA anytime you have questions. Thank you in advance for your assistance during the 2022 legislative session.