By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Feb. 23
The Kansas Health Policy Authority may get some of the additional workers it says it needs after all.
A senate budget subcommittee is leaning toward adding $620,625 to the health policy authority”s fiscal year 2008 budget
enough to hire 31 additional workers.
“They”ve taken on a workload that”s turned out to be much more that anyone imagined,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer. “If we expect them to do what we”ve asked them to do, we need to give them resources to do it.”
Umbarger also chairs the subcommittee that oversees the health policy authority”s budget.
He said he expects the subcommittee also to propose setting aside an additional $572,000 for the Kansas Family Medical Clearinghouse, which processes the applications for HealthWave, the state”s health insurance program for children in low-income families.
The clearinghouse has been fighting a backlog of applications
since the federal government began requiring applicants provide proof of citizenship.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius had proposed an additional $121,658 for the clearinghouse; $406,324 for the health policy authority.
The House Ways and Means Committee deferred its recommendations on the health policy authority”s budget to the omnibus bill done in the
final days of the legislative session.
Umbarger said the subcommittee”s final recommendations will be announced next week.
Health policy authority officials have said that fulfilling their staffing needs is their top administrative priority for this year.
Umbarger”s comments left them cautiously optimistic.
“It is too presumptuous for us to comment on this right now,” said health policy authority spokeswoman Megan Ingmire. “This proposed funding is not yet approved by the subcommittee and won”t be until Wednesday.
Even then, changes could be made before it”s approved and the full committee could then still make changes.
“We are encouraged though that there is support for the clearinghouse staffing and our need to complete the agency”s staffing.”
Dave Ranney is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at
dranney@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 128.