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A Message from the President & CEO Linda MowBray: Our Kansas Commitment
Friday, February 21, 2025
Mother Nature interfered with our scheduled Aging Services Day, but we are in the process of final rescheduling plans. Tentatively, pencil in March 24, 2025. More information will be coming regarding refunds should that date not work for your schedule. Registration will reopen at a later date for those who hadn’t registered previously but would like to attend.
We have reached the unofficial midpoint of the 2025 Legislative Session as turnaround day was yesterday, February 20, 2025. Many bills did pass out from their chamber of origin but not all that we were monitoring were included.
Sub for HB2007 - House Passes Legislative Budget
House Passes Legislative Budget- including full rebase and $20 per day Medicaid add-on for Nursing Homes. Now on to the Senate. Click here to read the joint statement from House Speaker Dan Hawkins (R-Wichita) and House Appropriations Chair Troy Waymaster (R-Bunker Hill).
HB 2339 – This bill had a hearing but due to the large fiscal note did not advance.
AN ACT concerning adult care homes; relating to enhancing adult care home services; providing for adult care home workforce development through scholarships for part-time nursing students; setting minimum education levels for instructors at nursing schools; establishing the intergenerational child care program to enhance the adult care home environment by supporting adult care homes offering child care services through the awarding of grants by the secretary of health and environment; creating the intergenerational child care fund; authorizing the secretary to administer the fund; amending K.S.A. 65-1119 and K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 74-3293 and repealing the existing sections. The full bill text can be found here.
HB 2316 – This bill did have a hearing but was not moved forward.
AN ACT concerning health and healthcare; relating to the collection of civil penalties for violations of correction orders; establishing the disability community services providers civil monetary penalty reinvestment fund and the adult care homes civil monetary penalty reinvestment fund; amending K.S.A. 39-949 and K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 39-2016 and repealing the existing sections. The full bill text can be found here.
HB 2163 – Although no action was taken on this bill following the initial hearing, the House Taxation Committee where it was heard, is an exempt committee and future work on this bill is likely to occur.
AN ACT concerning income taxation; relating to credits; providing for the preceptor income tax incentive act; establishing a credit for nursing home administrators, registered nurses and registered dietitians that serve as community-based faculty preceptor in adult care homes and medical care facilities by providing personalized instruction, training and supervision for students The full bill text can be found here.
HB 2249 – This bill passed out of the house and will be assigned to a Senate Committee.
Rural emergency hospitals; relating to nursing facility physical environment regulatory requirements; requiring the secretary for aging and disability services to grant waivers to certain rural emergency hospitals to provide skilled nursing facility care. The full bill text can be found here.
SB 88 – This bill passed out of the Senate and has been assigned to the House Committee on Health and Human Services.
AN ACT concerning the state long-term care ombudsman; requiring the state long-term care ombudsman and any regional ombudsman to receive training in memory care; amending K.S.A. 75-7306 and repealing the existing section. The full bill text can be found here.
The Bob Bethell KanCare Oversight Committee met this morning with a very abbreviated agenda. Public testimony was limited to written only and the State Agency and MCO presentations were limited to 5 minutes in some cases and 15 minutes in others. To view this meeting, click here.
In other news, KDHE held its bi-monthly meeting on KanCare applications and eligibility with stakeholders this morning. Please click here for those minutes.
KDADS held its monthly stakeholder’s meeting today and KHCA/KCAL raised concerns regarding the February 18, 2025, memo regarding the HCBS Waivers Settings Final Rule 101 Training is now available. Click here to see the memo.
We had multiple concerns about the requirement to use the Kansas Train platform, having “all staff and recurrent volunteers” complete the training within 90 days, having to achieve 100% on the online quiz and having no provisions for individuals where English is a second language. KDADS will take these concerns back and work on solutions and streamlining the process. We will keep you informed of their progress.
Thank you for trusting us to be your voice in the legislature. As always, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve you.
- Turnaround Day is the last day for non-exempt bills to be considered in their house of origin. House bills must pass out of the Kansas House; Senate bills must pass out of the Senate. Unless, of course, they’ve been “blessed” by being moved to an exempt committee
- What is a blessed bill? These bills are sponsored by, referred to, or acted upon by an exempt committee.
- What is a non-exempt bill? Any bill that has not been “blessed” by the process described above.
- What legislative committees are exempt committees?
- On the House side, they are Federal and State Affairs, Taxation, and Appropriations.
- On the Senate side, they are Federal and State Affairs, Ways and Means, and Assessment and Taxation.
Linda MowBray, President/CEO
lmowbray@khca.org
(785) 267-6003
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