TOPEKA — The first of three legislative roundtable discussions on health care costs will focus on insurance issues, it was announced today.
The meeting, to be conducted by a special subcommittee of the House Health and Human Services Committee, is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 22 at 9:30 a.m. in room 711 of the Docking State Office Building.
State Medicaid officials have been invited to participate in the discussion along with representatives of private insurance companies and experts on the federal Medicare program.
The goal of the roundtable sessions is to drill more deeply into consumer cost issues than is possible at regular legislative committee meetings, which are usually devoted to hearing testimony on bills, said Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, chairwoman of the health committee and the subcommittee that will conduct the meetings.
“I want honest discussions on this issue (health care costs),” Landwehr said. “I know that makes some people nervous.”
Chad Austin, a lobbyist for the Kansas Hospital Association, said the organization was lining up administrators of large and small hospitals to participate in the second meeting, scheduled for Friday, Feb. 5.
“Health care issues are complex,” Austin said. “We see this as an opportunity to better educate our policymakers on the challenges hospitals face in providing services to Kansans.”
A third meeting is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 12. It will feature a discussion among doctors, nurses and other providers.
Landwehr said consumers may also be invited to share stories about their dealings with the health care system at regular meetings of the health committee.
The subcommittee appointed Wednesday includes five Republicans and three Democrats. In addition to Landwehr, the Republicans are Reps. David Crum of Augusta, Aaron Jack of Andover, Peggy Mast of Emporia and Clark Shultz of Lindsborg. The Democrats are Reps. Geraldine Flaharty of Wichita, Dolores Furtado of Overland Park and Cindy Neighbor of Shawnee.
A furlough policy proposed by Republican leaders to cut legislative expenditures could mean that subcommittee members won’t be paid for their Friday meetings. But Landwehr said the furlough plan surfaced after the dates for the roundtable sessions were set.
“I can’t change these dates now because we’ve got people coming in from across the state and some from outside the state,” she said.
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