21 February 2005

Gov. Sebelius tours Emporia hospital, talks health care and schools

EMPORIA, Kan. – Governor Kathleen Sebelius toured the Newman Regional Health facility in Emporia today, meeting with hospital staff and calling on legislators to move forward on her efforts to control health care costs and expand access. She spoke with 80 health professionals who were joined by city, county and local chamber of commerce officials.

“The number one issue I hear about from Kansas families and businesses is health care. Rising costs are causing families to drop their health insurance and are also driving businesses out of the health insurance market,” the Governor said.

“We’ve got a situation where nearly one in 10 Kansas residents doesn’t have health insurance. That definitely has an impact on their health, and a serious injury or illness can send them into bankruptcy. But the problem of the uninsured also impacts all of us who do have health insurance because unpaid bills cause prices at Newman Regional and other hospitals to rise. Those price increases are then passed on to all of us,” she continued.

Governor Sebelius has teamed up with Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger on the HealthyKansas initiative, which seeks to reduce costs and expand access to quality care for children, low-income parents and small businesses.

One plank in that effort is the Governor’s proposal to reform the state’s health care operations, pooling purchasing power to negotiate better deals. That proposal is in danger of being blocked by the Legislature.

“In my State of the State address and during my trips around Kansas, I’ve said we are facing a ‘quiet crisis’ in health care. That crisis is only going to get worse if the Legislature continues its inaction, or if it blocks our proposal to streamline the state’s health care operations,” Sebelius said.

The Governor has called health care one of the two major issues impacting the creation of jobs in Kansas, with schools being the other. She spoke briefly about recent school finance proposals put forward by legislators.

“We’re almost at the halfway point between the court’s ruling and the deadline. Unfortunately, the Legislature has yet to put forward a plan for our schools that takes into account what it really costs to educate a child and none of the plans say where the money comes from. We need to see progress toward resolving those issues, and soon,” Sebelius said.