Health at the Capitol – Episode 2: More than Halfway There

Full Transcript

Voice over 0:00
Each legislative session, KHI is hard at work keeping you informed on the latest health policy discussions from across the street, in downtown Topeka. Health at the Capitol is a KHI production, a monthly recap with our legislative monitoring team, offering you a closer look at policy work happening now in Kansas and coming up.

Theresa Freed 0:21
Thanks for joining us for Health at the Capitol. I’m Theresa Freed, Director of Strategic Communication and Engagement for the Kansas Health Institute, and your host for this episode, we have two individuals with us who are also KHI staff members. We’ll start with Valentina Blanchard, who is an analyst here at KHI, and she’s also a member of the legislative monitoring team. So thanks for joining us.

Valentina Blanchard 0:42
Thanks for having me.

Theresa Freed 0:43
Alright. And also, as always, we have Linda Sheppard, who is a strategy team leader and heads up our legislative monitoring team. Always, thanks Linda for joining.

Linda Sheppard 0:53
Thank you, Theresa.

Theresa Freed 0:54
Okay, so last time we kind of left off talking about Turnaround Day. And it was just before that time, so we were kind of making some predictions about what was going to happen, and so now we’re at that point. So, tell us a little bit about what did happen.

Valentina Blanchard 1:09
So one of the things that we’ve seen this year is a lot of compact agreements or acts that have been introduced. This year it has been physician assistants, cosmetology, dietitians and school psychologists. And so typically, with compact acts, at least seven states have to pass them in order for them to be enacted. And so Kansas has passed several last session, and is working on a couple more to kind of help with expanding their workforce in the state.

Theresa Freed 1:39
Okay, let’s take a step back. Your interest in legislative monitoring. Can you talk about what? What do you enjoy most about the process?

Valentina Blanchard 1:48
I think it’s really interesting to hear the different information that’s shared and how the information directly leads to policy making. I think it could be quite fun across the street, listening to the conversation, and a lot of the different topics, and kind of really seeing how the bacon is made.

Theresa Freed 2:06
Alright. And so KHI has a very interesting role in all of that, and it’s observer. And then we kind of collect all that information, and then we present it to our audience, which includes legislators and partner organizations, anybody who has an interest in health policy. And so can you talk about kind of what’s your process? You guys divide up all the work during session. And so what piece today?

Valentina Blanchard 2:29
So I am following most of the health committees. So House Health and Human Services, the Welfare Reform Committee. I think our view of health has changed over the past couple years. So we also follow child welfare, juvenile justice issues, anything that really could, could impact health in the long run.

Theresa Freed 2:49
Alright, and we have seen some activity in the area of child welfare. So do you want to talk a little bit about where we’re at with that?

Valentina Blanchard 2:55
Yeah, so there’s been quite a bit of activity in the house welfare, or the House Child Welfare Committee. They are looking, one of the big bills that they’re looking at is changing the definition of neglect, so that it excludes poverty as a sole reason to remove a child from a home. So there’s been quite a bit of discussion on that one this year.

Theresa Freed 3:17
Okay, anything to add on that?

Linda Sheppard 3:18
No, it’s just that, as, as Valentina mentioned this, this activity on child welfare has been very, very busy for the last couple of years. Over the summer, there were a couple of committees, including one new committee, that spent all summer work, meeting twice a week to come up with some of this new language that Valentina mentioned, about what neglect actually means. And with the goal in mind of trying to reduce the situations where the need to remove a child from a home arises, and so that, that’s really the goal for that. And then, and they also looked at trying to speed up the process for how long a child remains in the system, once they are removed from the home, and get them back into some, some sort of permanent situation, whether it’s back home with their family or moved on to adoption and other permanent outcomes. But it’s, it has been and continues to be a very active part of the legislature’s work.

Theresa Freed 4:23
Question for you both, if you all were to make a prediction about which legislation we’ve seen will actually survive and turn into law, what would you speculate?

Linda Sheppard 4:34
I would certainly think that all of the compacts that Valentina mentioned, again, those are things that they have, they’ve done a number of these over the past couple of years, and those tend to just like, fly through and get put in place. And again, with the goal in mind of trying to make it easier for the workforce to continue to grow and allow people from out of state to participate in the state as well. So I expect those to happen. Absolutely, I think the child welfare improvements, so again, trying to reduce the number of children that come into the system by you really clarifying that definition of what neglect really means. And then also this focus on trying to help the courts move that system along faster, so that the children don’t remain in foster care for extended periods of time. So I think those are both, both improvements that everybody would agree to, certainly bipartisan support on improving the child welfare system.

Theresa Freed 5:33
Alright. Well, let’s talk about some of the other legislation that is being contested or debated. And so related to welfare reform or welfare benefits, and then also Medicaid.

Valentina Blanchard 5:44
Yeah, so House Health and Human Services last week, week eight, had, I think, about 13 bill hearings, approximately. And so by the end of the week, they actually took four bills and combined them into one. That included increased funding for local health departments, changes to income eligibility for the CHIP program, some provider reimbursement situations, on newborn screening. And then another bill, kind of in the Medicaid sphere, is a bill related to the scope of the Medicaid expect- Inspector General and expanding their scope to investigate fraud, waste and abuse, which is something I think we’re also seeing at the federal level.

Theresa Freed 6:28
Alright. And speaking of Medicaid, we do have a new series that is launching here at KHI, focused exclusively on Medicaid. It’s a multi-part series, and it’s free. It’s open to the public. Anyone can join that webinar, so it’s virtual. And so we would encourage people to join on our website, go to khi.org and then just register for that event. It’s under the events section. So we have lots of great educational opportunities. And we are launching a new product that is related to just monitoring or keeping an eye on some of the activity at the federal level. We know there’s a lot happening. And so, Linda, do you want to talk a little bit about this, this new, it’s not necessarily interest. We’re always interested in federal health, but due to all that activity and how it impacts the state of Kansas?

Linda Sheppard 7:16
Yes thank you, Theresa. Yeah, so KHI has historically always paid really close attention to what’s happening at the federal level. Because as we know, whatever happens in there, particularly as it relates to health, those policy decisions and changes often flow down and affect states, including Kansas. So we’ve always kept a really close eye on that, and sort of heightened awareness of that every time there’s been an administration change. So over the years, I’ve had a few opportunities to look at the different policies that are being discussed as we move from, from administration to administration. So again, just like that in the past, at, at the end of the year, when we knew that the Trump administration would be back in place, started paying close attention to any announcements that were made by him or things that were said during the campaign, that would give us some indication of what might happen. And as we, I think everybody would, would certainly say, since he took office officially in January, there’s been a lot of activity. So we have both in Congress, both the House and the Senate, working on budget resolutions now, which potentially will impact funding for the various health care programs that the federal government is involved in, including Medicaid, which would certainly impact states like Kansas. And then also, the fact that we, that we’re going to have basically all new agency head officials in place. And so with the confirmation of RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary, anticipating that we’ll see some additional new policies coming out of HHS. And so, potentially related to vaccinations and also some research matters, and so we’ll, we’ll be focusing on that. So our, we’ve really sort of committed this year to coming up, to working on producing products that give both our legislature, as well as just Kansans, to understand what’s happening at the federal level in various ways, and how that can flow down and impact Kansans directly as those policy changes are made.

Theresa Freed 9:34
Alright. And that new product line, I guess we’ll just call it, is Hill to Heartland. So look for that name and a lovely new graphic that’s tied to that. So we’ll have a long list of products that are associated with this campaign, we’ll just say, including a blog that’s coming out this week. So of course, look for that, that is specific to Medicaid, and then we are continually monitoring some of the news articles and activity that’s happening at the federal level, level, so that we can make sure to keep people informed. And again, the benefit of KHI, sort of analyzing all of that and sharing that information is, we’re nonpartisan and nonadvocacy, so the information that we’re sharing is really for the benefit of keeping people informed so they make good decisions regarding health. So just like this podcast or webcast. We want to make sure to continue to do that. So you can look for those products by registering on our website at khi.org to receive our emails. That’s a great way to get some of that information, or just search our website for that name as well. So as we wrap up, what can we look forward to in the next few weeks?

Linda Sheppard 10:42
Well, I think one thing that I did want to mention is with the new budget process that the legislature has implemented this year, the House is pretty much finished with their side. They have a bill that they’ve passed, and that bill is now passed over to the Senate side. The Senate Ways and Means Committee did start last week to have some budget hearings for the, what we call the “big three” major health related. So Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services, DCF, so Department for Children and Families, and then also KDHE, health, specifically on the health side. So they did start those hearings, and so now the Senate will be working on coming up with that final budget bill that those two can work, can come together and have the ultimate outcome. So obviously, for sure, we’ll have a budget, and that process is just moving along much faster than it has in past, past years. The other thing is, as we’re, we were already into the second week of March, and as we’ve mentioned before, the legislature is still moving forward and planning to be done by the 11th or the 12th of April. So things are moving very quickly, and we, we expect the activity level, as Valentina mentioned. So numerous bill hearings in committees that will continue to happen, because there’s just a lot for them to try to get done before that time. So we have about a month left.

Theresa Freed 12:11
Alright. Any last thoughts from you, Valentina?

Valentina Blanchard 12:14
No, agreed on the fast-paced, both in committees and on the floors.

Theresa Freed 12:18
Yeah, you guys are staying very busy, so we appreciate it. And so Health at the Capitol is, of course, this webcast and podcast, but it’s also a weekly summary that we are sharing with anyone who wants it. And it’s, it’s very in-depth on health policies, and again, we define health very broadly. But you can look for that on our website, or, again, you can register to receive our emails at khi.org. Thanks for joining us.

Voice over 12:42
Thanks for joining us for Health at the Capitol. Sign up to receive our emails at khi.org to get a weekly recap of health policy activity during the Kansas legislative session. You’ll also receive our latest publications and information about upcoming events.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai