Long Term Care Funding Recommendations from House and Senate
After hearing testimony last week from various groups (including LeadingAge Kansas) on KDADS funding, the Senate Ways and Means Human Services Sub-Committee and the House Social Services Budget Committee met earlier this week to decide their funding recommendations for long term care programs for state fiscal year 2024 (which starts July 1, 2023). Our asks to the committee:
- $29 M in State General Funds to fully fund nursing facility rate rebase with inflation factor through December 31, 2023 House recommended full amount, Senate recommended only half of requested amount
- $24.6 M in State General Funds to fund a daily Medicaid payment add-on to distribute per Medicaid resident based on the percentage of Medicaid residents as reported on a facility’s annual cost report. House recommended full amount, Senate recommended only half requested amount
- 10% increase HCBS-FE rates in assisted living facilities House and Senate recommend
- 5% increase PACE reimbursement rates House and Senate recommend
Next steps: The chairs of the Social Service Budget and the Humans Services Sub-committee will present their recommendations to the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means Committees the week of March 6th. If approved by a majority of the legislators on those committees, the funding amounts will be added to each chamber’s state budget bills.
Hearing on Bill Resolving Question of Licensed Salons in Adult Care Homes
After 50 years of contention about whether adult care homes and hospitals must have licensed salons to provide KDADS/CMS required services to residents, the Board of Cosmetology and KDADS introduced HB 2408 to definitively state that salon licensing IS NOT required. LeadingAge Kansas provided testimony in support of the bill, and it was quickly approved by both the House Health and Human Services Committee and all but one member of the full House of Representatives this week. The bill will now move on to the Senate.
Turnaround Report: We’ve Reached the Middle!
The legislature reached its first major deadline of the session this week, commonly known as “Turnaround.” That is a fun name to mark the mid-point of the legislative session. The idea is that each chamber (House and Senate) spends the first half of the session passing their own bills. And then the second half of the session they “turn around” and work on the bills that come over from the opposite chamber. Any bills that don’t get passed and sent over to the other chamber by turnaround are supposed to be dead for the rest of the year. But there are always exceptions.
Alive
These bills passed their chamber of origin and will be allowed to move forward
SB 6 Restricting the authority of the secretary of health and environment and local health officers to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious or contagious diseases.
HB 2264 Enacting the patient right to visitation act to require patient care facilities to adopt visitation rules to allow certain relatives and other persons, including clergy, to visit terminally ill patients and other patients making major medical decisions
HB 2292 Establishing tax credit to support health care apprenticeship programs
HB 2408 Exempting certain services provided in an adult care home from board of cosmetology and barbering oversight
HB 2023 Creating the crime of interference with the conduct of a health care facility
Exempt
These bills are exempt from the turnaround deadline and may continue forward
SB 277 Regulation of temporary health care staffing agencies
Blessed
These bills were subject to the turnaround deadline, but House and Senate decided to “bless” them so they can possibly move forward
SB 62 Enacting the protect vulnerable adults from financial exploitation act.
Dead (Maybe)
These bills were subject to the turnaround deadline, and Senate and House leaders did not give them a special dispensation. They are considered dead for the remainder of the legislative session, but you never know when things will pop back up again…
- SB 191 Involuntary discharge appeals in assisted living; allowing residents to stay in facility while appeal is pending.
- HB 2246 Involuntary discharge appeals in assisted living; allowing residents to stay in facility while appeal is pending
- HB 2049 Changing the length of the nurse aide course required for unlicensed employees in adult care homes to 75 hours
- HB 2265 Regulation of temporary health care staffing agencies
- HB 2267 Allowing adult care homes to apply for disability special license plates
- HB 2345 Enacting the supported decision-making agreements act for adult who want decision-making assistance
- HB 2358 Permitting mid-level practitioners to provide medical certification to attest to an individual’s cause of death to file a death certificate
