WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins today sent a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Charlene Frizzera regarding a recent ruling that would have negative unintended consequences on rural hospitals in Onaga and Wamego, Kansas.

“Changing the classification of Manhattan to a Metropolitan Statistical Area would force the hospitals in Onaga and Wamego to lose the ‘necessary provider designated’ critical access hospital (CAH) status and would jeopardize critical funding these rural hospitals depend on,” Jenkins said. “Onaga and Wamego are rural communities, and it would be detrimental to the hospitals’ abilities to care for patients if they lose the CAH designation and the additional funding they receive due to this classification.”

In 2004 a similar situation occurred, and CMS granted exceptions for hospitals in Jackson, Jefferson and Sumner counties, when areas nearby were classified as a Metropolitan Statistical Area. Congresswoman Jenkins was joined by the rest of the Kansas congressional delegation urging CMS to allow Wamego City Hospital and the Community HealthCare Systems, Inc. – Onaga to retain the CAH status.

Jenkins continued, “This is a simple, common-sense fix to an issue that would put unnecessary hardships on these two rural hospitals. As the former governor of Kansas, I am confident Secretary Sebelius understands the negative affects these changes will have on Onaga and Wamego, and I am hopeful she and Acting Administrator Frizzera will grant this exception.”