Kansas Health Institute |

Plan would expand medical training in Wichita Kansas is going to need more doctors to meet the growing needs of an aging population, officials here say. Continue Reading

Government health spending will outpace private Total health spending now 17.3 percent of the economy. Continue Reading

Hospital group is backing tobacco tax increase The Kansas Hospital Association will throw its lobbying clout behind a proposed increase in the state tobacco tax to restore a cut in the Medicaid rates paid to providers. Tom Bell, KHA president, said in an interview with the KHI News Service and State of the State KS, that the 194-member association would back Gov. Mark Parkinson’s call for increasing the tax on cigarettes from 79 cents to $1.34 per pack and also raising levies on other tobacco products. Continue Reading

Kansas County Health Rankings 2009 This report, a first-of-its-kind for Kansas, ranks all 105 counties in the state according to the health and well-being of their citizens. And it demonstrates the extent to which factors other than health care influence our health. Continue Reading

Mental health system close to collapse, center directors say Last year, nine of the state’s 27 community mental health centers spent more money than they took in. Continue Reading

Policy & Research

The Private Immunization Delivery System for Children in Kansas

0 | Dec. 23, 2009 | Immunizations

This update to a similar report from 2006 looks at the availability of private primary care clinics in Kansas that offer immunization services to children and identifies ways in which access to these services can be improved.

Federal Funding of Public Health Activities in Kansas

0 | Nov. 16, 2009 | Public Health Systems and Services

This report investigates how the levels of federal public health funding in Kansas compare with those in other states and identifies areas in which Kansas may have opportunities to expand funding.

Measures of Underinsurance: Kansas as an Example of State-Level Estimates

0 | Nov. 10, 2009 | Presentations, Health Insurance

This presentation describes the need for detailed, state-level data about the adequacy of health insurance plans.

The Road Toward Accreditation Through Regional Cooperation

0 | Nov. 10, 2009 | Presentations, Public Health Systems and Services

This presentation describes Kansas' work using the concept of regional cooperation to meet potential national accreditation standards for public health departments.

No Change in Kansas Uninsured Rate

0 | Sep. 18, 2009 | Child Health, Health Insurance

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that the percentage of Kansans without health insurance didn’t change significantly in the most recent reporting period. However, the percentage of Kansas children without coverage increased.

Promoting Changes to Improve Birth Outcomes: Kansas MLC-3 Experience

0 | Sep. 16, 2009 | Presentations, Public Health Systems and Services

This presentation describes Kansas' work in the Multi-state Learning Collaborative III. The MLC-3 project marks the second year Kansas has been involved with other states exploring potential impacts of efforts to construct national accreditation standards for public health departments.

News

Downsizing to begin at hospitals for the developmentally disabled

0 | Feb. 08, 2010 | SRS, Legislature, Hospitals

Committee to meet this summer to determine new admission standards.

Law change could help health officials learn more about infant mortality

0 | Feb. 08, 2010 | Child Health, Legislature

A change in state law to allow health officials to survey new moms could help reduce infant mortality, lawmakers were told.

Plan would expand medical training in Wichita

0 | Feb. 08, 2010 | Workforce

Kansas is going to need more doctors to meet the growing needs of an aging population, officials here say.

Kansas lacks solid health workforce data

0 | Feb. 08, 2010 | KHPA, Workforce, Rural Health

Groups working to better charts state's medical workforce needs.

Wichita med school dean hopes to duplicate successes of North Dakota program

0 | Feb. 08, 2010 | Workforce

Early on, most of Dr. H. David Wilson’s friends figured he’d grow up to be a veterinarian.

Senator shares list for saving $1 billion

0 | Feb. 08, 2010 | Legislature

Consolidating counties and courts and selling the KU Hospital could help get Kansas out of its budget hole.

Child welfare summit scheduled

0 | Feb. 08, 2010 | Children, Legislature

“What we’re looking for, really, is how do we make things better,” said House Federal and State Affairs Committee Chairman Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls.

Over regulation + unreasonable patient expectations = high costs

0 | Feb. 05, 2010 | Legislature, Health Care Delivery

"It's regulatons and the things we have to buy," administrator says

EMS Board director resigns

0 | Feb. 05, 2010 | Government

Robert Waller, executive director of the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services, has resigned.

Hearing set for "ridiculous" smoking ban bill

0 | Feb. 05, 2010 | Legislature, Tobacco

Wednesday hearing set for bill panned by governor.

Mental health system close to collapse, center directors say

1 | Jan. 25, 2010 | SRS, Legislature, Mental Health

Last year, nine of the state’s 27 community mental health centers spent more money than they took in.

State mental hospitals packed

1 | Feb. 04, 2010 | Legislature, Hospitals, Mental Health

Jails getting the overflow.

Committee endorses cuts in state hospital budgets

0 | Feb. 04, 2010 | Legislature, Mental Health

Despite warnings that the hospitals for the mentally ill were overloaded and understaffed.

Over regulation + unreasonable patient expectations = high costs

0 | Feb. 05, 2010 | Legislature, Health Care Delivery

"It's regulatons and the things we have to buy," administrator says

Provider-tax bills in the works

0 | Feb. 04, 2010 | Legislature, Medicaid-CHIP

Aim is to draw down more federal money.

Law enforcement officials urged to train for dealing with the mentally ill

0 | Feb. 01, 2010 | SRS, Mental Health

With police often called upon to deal with the mentally ill, special training is called for to help defuse tense situations before they become violent.

Hearing set for "ridiculous" smoking ban bill

0 | Feb. 05, 2010 | Legislature, Tobacco

Wednesday hearing set for bill panned by governor.

EMS Board director resigns

0 | Feb. 05, 2010 | Government

Robert Waller, executive director of the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services, has resigned.

Kansas Medicaid cuts make little financial sense

0 | Jan. 21, 2010 | Commentary

Tom Bell, chief executive of the Kansas Hospital Assocation, says the old saying of “being penny wise and pound foolish” has never been truer than when Gov. Mark Parkinson decided to reduce Medicaid payments to health care providers by 10 percent for the remainder of the state’s fiscal year in order to help balance the budget.

State mental hospitals packed

1 | Feb. 04, 2010 | Legislature, Hospitals, Mental Health

Jails getting the overflow.

Push for tighter day care licensing questioned

1 | Feb. 02, 2010 | Child Health, Legislature

Legislators this week are holdings hearings on a proposal that would mean stricter standards for some home day care centers.

Mental health system close to collapse, center directors say

1 | Jan. 25, 2010 | SRS, Legislature, Mental Health

Last year, nine of the state’s 27 community mental health centers spent more money than they took in.

Governor calls for sales and tobacco tax increases

1 | Jan. 11, 2010 | Legislature

Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, unveiled key details of a budget plan that calls for raising the state sales tax one cent and boosting tobacco taxes to forestall deeper cuts to schools and to roll back cuts in Medicaid provider rates. But Republican leaders said it would be a bad idea to raise taxes during a recession.

No CHIP bonus for Kansas

1 | Dec. 21, 2009 | Medicaid-CHIP

Nine states have been awarded almost $73 million in federal bonus payments for enrolling more children in their state-run health insurance programs. But Kansas wasn't among them despite expectations by some.

Tax increase hardly a sure thing

1 | Dec. 21, 2009 | Legislature, Medicaid-CHIP, Tobacco

Gov. Mark Parkinson says he is ready to push for tax increases instead of continued budget cuts to core state services.

Cost containment key feature of reform bill, expert says

1 | Dec. 21, 2009 | Health Reform

There may be many legitimate criticisms of the health reform bill expected to win approval this week in the U.S. Senate. But one of the most often heard — that it does little or nothing to contain costs — is off the mark, according to a lawyer involved in the congressional negotiations.

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