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Committee sends COPA 2 bill to Committee of the Whole to let smaller rural nonprofit hospitals jointly purchase supplies and services
Summary
The House Health & Human Services Committee sent Senate Bill 25,078 (COPA 2) to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation after sponsors said the bill will let independent rural nonprofit hospitals jointly purchase supplies and contract for services to lower costs.
The House Health & Human Services Committee voted to send Senate Bill 25,078, described by sponsors as a second‑phase rural hospital cooperation measure (COPA 2), to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation.
Representative Lukens, the sponsor, told the committee the bill would allow independent rural nonprofit hospitals to enter collaborative agreements with one another and with public county hospitals to increase purchasing power for pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and equipment without running afoul of antitrust law. She said the Senate had amended the language to define a hospital eligible for the program as "a facility which is not owned by or affiliated with a health system that is comprised of 3 or more hospitals," broadened from an earlier fewer‑than‑50‑beds threshold.
Kevin Stansbury, CEO of Lincoln Health in Hugo and a founding member of the Eastern Plains Healthcare Consortium, testified in support and described operating challenges for rural hospitals, saying the hospitals often serve older, poorer and sicker populations and face thin margins. He said collaborative purchasing and shared services can reduce costs and improve access. Austin Wozniak of the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing told the committee he assists in operating the existing program and was available for questions.
Representative McCormick asked how the fewer‑than‑50‑beds threshold had been handled; Lukens explained the Senate amendment replaced the strict bed count with a test based on affiliation with a health system of three or more hospitals so independent hospitals with slightly larger bed counts could still participate. Representative Bradley asked about cost savings; witnesses said an existing program has produced meaningful savings in staffing costs in at least one hospital (about a 20% per‑person reduction in agency staffing costs at one participant) and that a prior COPA program showed measurable savings.
The committee motion to advance the bill carried unanimously; sponsors reported the committee vote as 12–0 with one member excused. The measure will now proceed to the Committee of the Whole for floor consideration.
