News From the Kansas Delegation<\/p>\n
Members of the Kansas congressional delegation have been active in recent weeks on a range of health care and related policy matters.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 18, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) joined U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., along with patients, caregivers, clinicians, researchers and advocates for roundtables discussing experiences, research needs and potential treatments for long COVID. Sec. Kennedy announced a new Long COVID consortium, a future public awareness campaign and an open-source medical resource platform, with commitments from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd17 Read the press release from HHS: HHS Advances Fight Against Long COVID with Patient Roundtables and New National Efforts<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udd17 Read the press release from Senator Marshall\u2019s office: Senator Marshall Joins Secretary Kennedy & Other Top Medical Experts During Long Covid Panel Discussion<\/a><\/p>\n On Sept. 11, Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) introduced the Commissary Healthy Options and Servicemember Wellness Act that would authorize the Department of Defense to pilot a one-year program providing monthly commissary food coupons to junior enlisted service members at two military installations. Marshall, who chairs the Senate Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Caucus, said the effort would improve access to healthy, affordable food options, particularly for members of the armed forces living in unaccompanied housing.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd17 Read the press release: Senators Marshall & Warnock Introduce Bipartisan Legislation Implementing MAHA in our Military<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udd17 Read the bill language: S. 2772<\/a><\/p>\n On Sept. 9, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved Kansas\u2019 application to raise the hospital provider tax rate from 3 percent to 6 percent, generating about $1 billion annually in Medicaid reimbursements. The Kansas Hospital Association credited the Kansas congressional delegation, led by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), for negotiations on H.R. 1 that kept the plan viable, and Governor Laura Kelly and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for working with CMS to keep it moving forward<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd17 Read the press release: Sen. Moran Statement on CMS Decision to Approve Kansas\u2019 Application to Increase Federal Reimbursements for Kansas Hospitals<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udd17 Read more from the Kansas Hospital Association: 2025 Provider Tax Preprint Approval<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udd17 Read more from 12 News: Kansas hospitals set to receive major funding boost, nearly $1 billion per year<\/a><\/p>\n On Sept. 8, U.S. Representative Tracey Mann (R-KS) helped lead the introduction of a bipartisan package of bills to modernize Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) under the Medicare program and improve care for rural communities.<\/p>\n R. 5198<\/a>, the Rural Health Clinic Location Modernization Act, would update statutory language to ensure RHCs remain eligible for certification in communities under 50,000 people. The bill would close a gap created by 2020 Census definition changes, which left some moderately sized communities at risk of losing RHC status.
\nR. 5199<\/a>, the Modernizing Rural Physician Assistance and Nurse Practitioner Utilization Act, would allow RHCs to align physician assistant and nurse practice authority with state laws, reducing outdated federal restrictions.
\nR. 5217<\/a>, the Rural Behavioral Health Improvement Act, would remove the current cap that limits RHCs to providing no more than 49 percent of their services in behavioral health care. The change could allow RHCs to offer expanded mental health and substance use treatment while maintaining their certification.<\/p>\n