MHA Today | April 11, 2025

Staff Contact: Jane Drummond or Andrew Wheeler

Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed an amended Concurrent Resolution establishing the congressional budget for fiscal year 2025 while setting appropriate budget levels for fiscal years 2026 through 2034. Yesterday, the House voted to adopt the amendment. With both chambers agreeing to the resolution, committees will now be responsible for budget details. Included in the final resolution is an order to reduce spending by $880 billion for programs under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Staff Contact: Brett Moorehouse

Leaders representing more than a dozen of Missouri’s critical access and rural emergency hospitals visited with lawmakers at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, yesterday. The full group met with Speaker of the House Jon Patterson, R-Blue Springs, to advocate for legislation to reform insurers’ prior authorization systems. The legislation would address delays and denials for providers who have a percentage of high percentage of prior authorization approvals upon appeal. In addition to their visit with Speaker Patterson, the hospital leaders met with their respective lawmakers in the Missouri House and Senate.

Learn more about our prior authorization advocacy and share your thoughts with lawmakers at MissouriHealthMatters.com.

Attending were leaders from Cedar County Memorial Hospital in El Dorado Springs, Community Hospital-Fairfax, Excelsior Springs Hospital, Harrison County Community Hospital in Bethany, Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe and Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton, Hermann Area District Hospital, Mercy Hospital Aurora, Mercy Hospital Cassville, Mercy St. Francis Hospital in Mountain View, Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital, Parkland Health Center – Farmington, Parkland Health Center – Bonne Terre, Pershing Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, Pike County Memorial Hospital in Louisiana, Ray County Hospital in Richmond, Salem Memorial Hospital, Samaritan Hospital in Macon, Scotland County Hospital in Memphis and Sullivan County Memorial Hospital in Milan.

Staff Contact: Jane Drummond

Proposition A was approved by Missouri voters in November 2024. The law mandates nonexempted employers to provide earned paid sick time and prescribes requirements surrounding the use of accrued sick leave. MHA released Proposition A: Questions & Answers to help hospitals interpret various aspects of the law. The Missouri Department of Labor requires employers to provide written notice to employees and display a poster in a conspicuous area of the workplace by Tuesday, April 15. Employees begin to accrue earned paid sick time Thursday, May 1.

Staff Contact: Christy Hoehner, Mat Reidhead or Stephen Njenga

The care environment is downstream of health. Where we live, work, learn and play all have a huge impact on our health.

The more stakeholders know about the factors that influence health, the better hospitals and health systems — and their partners in public health and community-based organizations — can identify, manage and mitigate them.

Resources for health improvement are often constrained. Data, including the robust ZIP code-level access to community health insights available on exploremohealth.org, can shape stakeholders’ investments and maximize the value of community and public health initiatives.

In concert with National Public Health Week, MHA refreshed exploreMOhealth as of April 8.

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Staff Contact: Becky Boyce

Sharon Noe is serving as the chief executive officer of Landmark Hospital of Columbia. Noe brings more than 30 years of operations and development experience to the position. She has served as CEO, COO and chief development officer across several national organizations. Noe replaces Kerry Ashment who was the CEO of the facility since April 2024.