Health Care System Reform in Kansas: Context, Challenges, and Capacity

For decades, the term "health care reform" has marked the political and social landscape of our country. The phrase has varying contextual meanings. For some, it means restructuring how and by whom health care providers are paid. For most, the phrase is grounded in the concept that Americans need access to affordable health care and that many of us-nearly 47 million people in the United States-are uninsured., This is truly a remarkable statistic because according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States spends almost double per capita on health care services than any other country but suffers worse health 2 outcomes on a number of public health indicators. Recently, both California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty proposed universal health care coverage for their states' citizens. These proposals came on the heels of last year's well-publicized health care reform plan in Massachusetts, which is now being implemented . In our own state, Governor Kathleen Sebelius, in her 2007 State of the State Address, called for the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA) to work with her and the Legislature to develop a plan for universal health coverage, increasing Kansans' accessibility to health care. 4 As the newly-created state agency devoted