WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today said Kansans have more confirmation that Obamacare’s regulations and high costs could hurt Kansas families as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and one of her Chief Actuaries, Rick Foster, have been pressed at congressional hearings about regulations and the costs of the new health care law and their impact on patients and health care.

Senator Roberts reacted to the testimony of Rick Foster, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Chief Actuary, when Foster was before the House Budget Committee Wednesday, saying that he "continues to appreciate the honest and reliable information provided by Mr. Foster and his office in CMS." Roberts continued, saying that "it must be hard for Foster to continue to offer his frank judgment amongst the political pressures he must be under, but that having his non-partisan actuarial opinion is very important to understanding the impact of health care reform on Kansans."

Yesterday Foster testified before the House Budget Committee that in fact the health care reform law would not hold down costs and that in fact most Americans would be unable to keep the coverage that they have.

Today at a hearing of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Roberts addressed his concerns to Secretary Sebelius about the implementation of the new health care law, especially regarding review of Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) by Medicare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).

Kansas has 83 Critical Access Hospitals, the most of any state, making up at least one half of all Kansas hospitals.

"Secretary Sebelius, as former Governor of Kansas, you know these critical access hospitals are the health care delivery system for our rural communities," Roberts said. "And you are also aware that CAHs are not part of the five year exemption from IPAB review that other hospitals were given in health reform. Should IPAB recommend reductions that take funds away from these rural community hospitals? I can assure you Congress will act to see that access and quality of care in rural areas does not suffer due to this unfair scrutiny."

Senator Roberts went on to press Secretary Sebelius regarding her compliance with the President’s executive order for each agency to review regulations to ensure they promote safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth.

"I think the new health care law has plenty of regulations harmful to economic growth, especially for small businesses struggling to grow and create new jobs," Senator Roberts said. "I hope Secretary Sebelius can identify areas where the unintended consequences of agency regulations can be addressed immediately per the President’s executive order."

Senator Roberts is Co-Chairman of the Rural Health Caucus and is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Senate Committee on Finance.

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