Kansas health insurance

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status report:
Kansas state health insurance exchange

What progress is being made in setting up its federally-mandated Kansas state health insurance exchange?"

About state health insurance exchanges

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How did Kansas officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Yes (4)

• Tim Huelskamp

• Lynn Jenkins

• Mike Pompeo

• Kevin Yoder

how healthy is living in Kansas?

Kansas has climbed one spot from last year, and is now ranked as the 23rd healthiest state to live in, according to the 2010 America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation.

The good news:

• Kansas' strengths this year included a low rate for both mental and physical health days per month, a relatively high rate of early prenatal care, and a low percent of uninsured individuals (12.7 percent).
• Rates of infectious disease fell in the last year from 7.9 cases to 6.2 cases per 100,000 population.
• Both the prevalence of smoking and death due to cardiovascular disease have shown a marked decrease in the past ten years.

The bad news:

• Kansas is challenged by its low level of public health funding, as well as its limited percentage of primary care physicians per 100,000 individuals of the population (102.5).
• In addition, it has a relatively high rate in both infant mortality (7.5 deaths in 1,000 live births) and occupational fatalities (5.7 deaths per 100,000 workers).
• Obesity has increased in Kansas over the past five years from 23.2 to 28.7 of the population.

Kansas' best and worst category rankings:

• Poor physical and mental health days – 8th and 10th, respectively
• Infectious disease – 11th
• Primary care physicians – 36th
• Occupational fatalities – 38th
• Public health funding ($47 per person) – 44th

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Kansas.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key Kansas health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts Kansas here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for Kansas, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

does Kansas have a health insurance high risk pool?

Kansas Health Insurance Association
Toll-free 1-800-362-9290 (M-F 8am-5pm)

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, Kansas started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about Kansas's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

how to find health insurance in Kansas

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in Kansas and all other states.
• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's guide on how to find health insurance in Kansas.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown's Kansas health insurance guide

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations help fund its research. Learn more about the Health Policy Institute.

Review Georgetown's guide for Kansas.

Health insurance plan report cards for Kansas

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers.

Go here to search for Kansas health insurance plan report cards.

Kansas government health insurance resources

Kansas Department of Insurance – Health Insurance Section – includes a variety of resources for Kansans seeking health insurance coverage.

Kansas Medicare – Wheatlands Administrative Services, a new subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, conducts Medicare business on behalf of the state.

Kansas Medicaid or Medical Assistance Program – the site with information for low-income families and others who qualify to find out about health insurance programs especially designed for them.

Kansas Health Wave – Kansas' SCHIP – helps qualifying low-income families get health insurance for their children ages 18 and under. Under Kansas' program, adults living in the same household may also qualify for coverage. See the site for more details.