2010-2012 Strategic Focus Areas
Open to All: Affordable, Accessible Health Care for all Kansans
Access to health care is at the very root of the Health Fund which, endowed with a portion of the proceeds of the sale of a hospital founded and supported by United Methodists for many years, comes from a long history of providing medical care to those in need. For 2010-2012, our trustees have reaffirmed a bold goal reflecting our values and our hopes: health care should be available to all Kansans.
An unprecedented opportunity exists for Kansas, along with the rest of the nation, to realize the dream of more equitable access to health care. Health care reform legislation has set the stage for greatly expanded health insurance coverage, but how the law will be implemented in Kansas and how it will affect each of us is still largely unknown. The Health Fund is committed to two things related to the new federal health care reform law: 1) that Kansas-specific information on which important regulatory and implementation decisions will be based is made available on a timely basis so that Kansans benefit as much as possible from the new law and 2) that the interests of Kansas consumers are a priority in implementation actions.
There are access barriers in large parts of Kansas, unfortunately, that health care insurance coverage alone cannot address. Sustaining a health care delivery in our shrinking rural communities is a challenge awaiting innovative solutions. The Health Fund will continue to support the exploration of new approaches in our rural regions.
Current strategies under the access to care focus area include:
- Providing information to aid in understanding and implementing health care reform
- Assuring the consumer voice is heard in reform implementation
- Supporting rural communities in seeking a new vision for health care delivery
Information on federal health care reform and what it means to Kansans is available here
A news release with background information on our 2010-2012 focus areas is available here.