Tag: health care

Grantees in the News

Posted on by Nancy McCready
Kansas Cares logo

Thrive Allen County awarded $11.9 million to help Kansans enroll in health coverage

Thrive Allen County will continue to help underserved communities, consumers and small businesses find and enroll in affordable health care coverage thanks to a recent $11.9-million federal grant.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is awarding the grant in advance of this year’s Nov. 1 open enrollment date for the Health Insurance Marketplace, or HealthCare.gov. Grants were awarded to 44 Navigator programs across the nation.

The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund provided funding support to help Thrive Allen County apply for the federal grant. Thrive Allen County is a non-profit organization that exists to strengthen Kansas’ rural communities through advocacy, programs, community outreach and communication. 

Thrive Allen County’s Navigator program, called Kansas CARES, works with partners across the state to provide free assistance to people exploring health care coverage through HealthCare.gov. The five-year, $11.9-million grant will help them continue providing this important service.

Navigators are federally trained, vetted and certified individuals who help consumers find and apply for Marketplace health insurance. They help with everything from reviewing available plans to assisting with eligibility and enrollment forms to providing post-enrollment services, such as using coverage to get care.

Navigators also can assist people with enrolling in or renewing coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“As trusted community partners, their mission focuses on assisting the uninsured and other underserved communities. Navigators serve an important role in connecting communities that historically have experienced lower access to health coverage and greater disparities in health outcomes to health coverage,” according to CMS.

Visit KansasCARES.org for more information or to find a Navigator near you.

To learn more about this year’s Navigator grantees, visit In-Person Assistance in the Health Insurance Marketplaces | CMS. Consumers in any state can access Navigators by visiting Find Local Help for assistance with their application and more. For additional details on Marketplace Open Enrollment, which will run from Nov. 1 to at least Jan. 15, 2025 (and longer in some states), visit HealthCare.gov.

Telehealth in Kansas: Provider and Patient Experience During COVID-19 Cross-Study Report

Posted on by Lindsey Fields

The results of four phases of telehealth research during the COVID-19 pandemic are clear. Patients, providers, and administrators expressed that telehealth increased access to care and saw benefits beyond expanding access during the pandemic.

The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and REACH Healthcare Foundation commissioned research on telehealth in Kansas to understand its use by consumers and providers, and to gain their perspectives on areas for improvement. The research included a statewide survey of providers, a statewide voter poll, health provider interviews and consumer focus groups.

Read the telehealth cross-study report.

Key takeaways include:

  • While providers were attuned to access and continuity of care, patients were attuned to benefits like convenience, savings of time and money, and the importance of choice between telehealth and in-person services.
  • Overall, patients and providers were satisfied with telehealth, though some reported specific bad experiences. Providers and patients agreed not all health services were suitable for telehealth and believed they knew when it was time for an in-person visit.
  • Patient access to devices and internet connectivity was generally good; the same was true for providers. Patients, particularly those who participated in the consumer poll, wanted rural broadband access to be increased to improve access to telehealth and improve health.

Learn more about the results in the full report or research brief.

Recording of 09/28/22 webinar, “Telehealth in Kansas: Provider and Patient Experience During COVID-19.”
Webinar slides

Telehealth Resources

All telehealth materials can be found on our Kansas Telehealth page.

Consumer Focus Groups Find Kansans Want Telehealth to Stay

Posted on by Lindsey Fields

New consumer focus group research with Kansas patients demonstrates that telehealth has increased access to care, has room for improvement, and that patients want telehealth to be a permanent option. This research reinforces results from a 2021 consumer poll of Kansas voters—participants had positive experiences with telehealth, found it to be an important option, and wanted policymakers to support telehealth by increasing access, including broadband capabilities.

View the consumer focus group report

The consumer focus group qualitative research, conducted for the Health Fund and REACH Healthcare Foundation by the University of Kansas Medical Center during 2021 and 2022, included an oversampling of Black, Hispanic, Spanish-speaking and rural consumers to ensure sufficient sample sizes of minority populations.

Summary of Patients’ Perspectives

A summary of the patients’ perspectives on telehealth includes:

  • Many participants were enthusiastic about continuing to use telehealth—finding it easier, more convenient, safer and a time saver.
  • Potential cost savings related to spending less on gas and transportation and saving time, including missing less work, crossed socioeconomic backgrounds, genders, and parental or caregiver status.
  • Most suggestions for improvement focused on making telehealth a more integrated part of health care through better care coordination and greater standardization of scheduling, processes, and platforms. Patients wanted to see certainty in terms of costs and payor policies. They also recognized the need for better broadband internet access.
  • Telehealth allowed some patients to receive care that was many hours away or that they otherwise would not have been able to access.
  • Some participants did not have access to reliable transportation or to transportation at all.
  • Patients did not like that it was harder to show providers injuries or other visible health conditions on a telehealth videoconference.
  • Most participants reported using their smartphones for telehealth videoconferencing. Many also used laptops, and a few used iPads or other tablets.
  • Several participants noted specific barriers to utilizing telehealth regarding interpretation services, insurance coverage, and tech savviness.
  • Overall, caregivers of elderly parents and children alike found telehealth to be a convenient option that aided in better use of their time and generally lowered the burden of caregiving.

Kansans want telehealth to remain an option for care. An initial provider survey, a statewide poll of voters, also co-funded by the Health Fund and REACH Healthcare Foundation, in-depth provider interviews, and this consumer focus group research are evidence that telehealth can play a significant role in improving health care access for Kansans.

This was the fourth phase of telehealth research. Join us on Wednesday, September 28 at noon as we present the cross-study results during the Telehealth in Kansas: Provider and Patient Experience During COVID-19 live webinar.

Telehealth Resources

All telehealth materials can be found on our Kansas Telehealth page.

Right now is the right time to vaccinate your child against COVID-19

Posted on by Lindsey Fields

This opinion piece originally appeared in the Topeka Capital-Journal on July 1, 2022. Gretchen Homan, M.D., is president of the Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and former chair of the Immunize Kansas Coalition. David Jordan is president and CEO of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund in Hutchinson. Pictured above is Elise, a Hutchinson teen who has long COVID.

With August around the corner, now’s the time to make sure our kids are protected from COVID-19 when they return to school. As parents, we want the best for our kids. It’s our responsibility to make decisions on their behalf to keep them healthy, safe and in a position to thrive.

We never expected parenting would involve a global pandemic, school closures, remote learning and protecting children who were not eligible for vaccines.

Thankfully, in recent weeks the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made it easier for all parents to protect their children from COVID-19 by authorizing vaccines for children ages 6 months through 4 years and boosters for children ages 5 through 11.

Thanks to established vaccine science, research, rigorous clinical trials, and ongoing safety monitoring, adults have been eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines since December 2020. The results have been amazing — reduced risk of death, severe illness, hospitalization, and spread.

Adults helped us return to “normal,” but kids can keep us there. Children share viruses as easily as they share toys. Kids need protection from COVID-19, just as we protect them from other vaccine-preventable infections.

Following the same process, safe, effective vaccines and boosters have been available for children ages 5 to 17. Over 27 million children ages 5 through 17 have gotten a COVID vaccine.

The vaccines are safe and tested

Early on, we yearned for a return to “normal” and knew a vaccine was critical to achieving that goal. Thanks to established vaccine science, research, rigorous clinical trials, and ongoing safety monitoring, adults have been eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines since December 2020.

The same rigorous authorization process was used for the vaccines for children under 5.

Children can get very sick from COVID-19

Much of what pediatricians do is preventive health care. Vaccines are a crucial part of that. Administered in a moment, vaccines can provide children with lasting protection from devastating illnesses.

To greatly reduce risks to our children, we must prioritize COVID-19 vaccination. However, in Kansas, only 25% of kids ages 5 through 11 and 53% of kids ages 12 through 17 have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, children have accounted for about 19% of cases in the United States. Children are getting the virus.

Although the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the brain and organs are not entirely clear, we know some people, including children, suffer significant long-term complications that hinder their ability to live full lives. As parents, we should embrace the opportunity to vaccinate our children against COVID-19’s long-term effects.

Elise, a Hutchinson teen, was a healthy 15-year-old when she contracted COVID-19. After her quarantine ended, she returned to school. She didn’t make it through the day. She’d developed long COVID. She had no energy and was short of breath.

Seventeen months later, Elise is still attending school online. She can’t sit up for long periods of time without getting dizzy, and she uses a wheelchair to get around. Thankfully, she recently stopped using supplemental oxygen.

It’s normal to have questions about vaccinating your child. Doctors welcome them. If you have concerns about COVID-19 vaccines, please talk to your child’s doctor. We know appointments go quickly; a good way to prepare is to write your questions down beforehand and bring them with you.

As parents, we both chose to vaccinate our kids against COVID-19. We knew vaccination was critical to preventing illness, keeping them safe, and supporting healthy development.

Previous generations of parents were the first to vaccinate children against measles, rubella, and polio. When our children look back, they’ll realize how important it was for their parents to vaccinate them against COVID-19. Join us in doing everything we can to protect the health and well-being of our children.

You can find a COVID-19 vaccine near you at vaccines.gov or by calling (800) 232-0233.

Black maternal health crisis conversation

Posted on by Lindsey Fields

Among industrialized countries, the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate. In Kansas, the maternal mortality rate is 14.8—meaning 14.8 women die for every 100,000 live births. Black women are more likely to die than white or Hispanic women.

Dr. Sharla Smith of the Kansas Birth Equity Network joined Health Fund CEO David Jordan for a conversation on the Black maternal health crisis.

Conversation with Dr. Sharla Smith of the Kansas Birth Equity Network

“Black women are two to three times more likely to die of childbirth-related issues than white women,” said Dr. Smith. “We’re seeing that crisis happen in the absence of the social determinants of health. So, Black women from the wealthiest communities still have worse outcomes. Black educated women still have worse outcomes than all other women.”

In Support of Postpartum Coverage

Posted on by Lindsey Fields

We support and invest in early childhood initiatives because research shows investing early creates the best health outcomes and the greatest return on investment. To ensure the healthiest start for Kansas kids, we also support policies that lead to healthier parents and healthier families.

Health Fund President David Jordan recently submitted testimony to both the Kansas House and Kansas Senate in support of extending postpartum KanCare coverage to 12 months, universal home visiting, and adding adult dental coverage to Medicaid benefits.

ROI in Rural America: Increasing Kansans’ Access to Care

Posted on by Lindsey Fields

Through technical assistance, Kansas organizations received nearly $15 million in federal grants

Nearly one in three Kansans live in rural and frontier communities. These communities face unique healthcare challenges, such as accessibility, lack of providers, and an aging population.

The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (Health Fund) supports innovative, collaborative initiatives for the health and wholeness of all Kansans. Access to care plays a critical role in supporting Kansans’ health and strong communities. Particularly in rural areas where the population is growing older and sparser, providers are looking for ways to stay financially viable and provide quality integrated care for the people they serve.

The Health Fund works to ensure program sustainability beyond its initial investment, which can include supporting efforts to bring in outside grant dollars. In 2021, the Health Fund provided technical assistance to bring millions of federal grant dollars back to Kansas to support health initiatives. Kansas ranks 46 in drawing down federal funds, in part due to missed grant opportunities.

“We’re a small health foundation that invests in projects across Kansas to sustainably increase access to care,” said David Jordan, president and CEO of the Health Fund. “Each year we give out $2 million in grants. Those dollars only go so far. By leveraging some of our dollars, we can invest thousands in order to bring back millions to our state. This year we provided technical assistance to organizations who were applying for federal grants, which helped bring $15 million to Kansas.”

Thanks in part to technical assistance, four organizations received millions in federal grant dollars that will increase Kansans’ access to health insurance and mental health services:

  • Thrive Allen County, $2.9 million grant from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • SAMHSA Community Mental Health Center grant awards to:
    • Spring River Mental Health & Wellness, Inc. in Riverton, $1.9 million
    • Pawnee Mental Health Services in Manhattan, $4.75 million
    • Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center in Humboldt, $4.99 million

For the next three years, Thrive Allen County will use its award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help underserved populations find affordable health insurance. Thrive utilizes Navigators, individuals who are federally trained and certified to help consumers find and apply for Marketplace coverage. The grant will support the recruitment, training and activities of 18 Navigators who will serve 42 counties and ten agencies across the state. Thrive’s past work in enrollment assistance helped lower Allen County’s uninsured rate from 21% in 2013 to less than 9% in 2018.

“This is a grant after my own heart,” said Lisse Regehr, Thrive Allen County president and CEO. “I joined Thrive in 2014 as a Navigator and saw firsthand the life changing effects it has on individuals, families and communities. The impact Navigators have on healthcare access cannot be understated, and we are honored to help community organizations implement what we have learned across the state.”

Three mental health centers across Kansas received Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) grant awards. CMHCs provide prevention, treatment and rehabilitation mental health services. The grant dollars are intended to increase access to mental health and behavioral support.

Women & Children First

Posted on by Lindsey Fields

Addressing maternal and child health disparities in Kansas

This opinion piece by Health Fund President David Jordan originally appeared in the Fall 2021 issue of Kansas Child magazine.

All Kansans should get to live in communities where good schools, healthy environments, safe homes, quality jobs, and access to health care and high-quality goods and services are the norm.

To achieve that goal in Kansas, we need to address long-standing racial and ethnic disparities in health, poverty rates, and educational attainment. Addressing these inequities is complex, but improving the health and well-being of mothers, infants, and children is a critically important strategy. It is predictive of future public health challenges for families, communities, and the health system.

We need to address long-standing racial and ethnic disparities in health, poverty rates, and educational attainment.

Unfortunately, significant racial disparities exist in maternal and child health. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation brief highlighted:

  • Black and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) women have higher rates of pregnancy-related death compared to white women.
  • Black, AIAN, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) women are more likely than white women to have births with risk factors that increase the likelihood of infant mortality and that can have long-term negative consequences for children’s health.
  • Infants born to Black, AIAN, and NHOPI women have markedly higher mortality rates than those born to white women.

These disparities, in part, reflect increased barriers to health care among people of color. To improve access to health care for people of color in Kansas and to ensure every Kansan has an opportunity for a healthy start in life, we must:

  • Invest in prenatal care and equity-­based birth education.
  • Improve access to prenatal services for women of color.
  • Improve access to comprehensive health care by expanding Medicaid eligibility, extending postpartum coverage to 12 months for new mothers, and continuously covering children ages 0-5.
  • Invest in a culturally competent health care workforce.

Investing in maternal and child health policies can address long-standing inequities in Kansas as well as improve health outcomes, school readiness, and long-term financial earnings.

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© United Methodist Health Ministry Fund