ICYMI: Legislative Update | February 17, 2026
Recap of Week 5 & Preview of Week 6 – February 17, 2026
Budget Update: House vs. Senate Positions
Last week, Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations continued working their respective budget bills.
Key Differences at end of last week:
Medicaid Capacity Payment (Nursing Homes)
- House: Reduced from $20/resident/day to $10/resident/day
- Senate: Fully funded at $20/resident/day
HCBS-FE Waiver Capacity (FY26)
- House: Reduced funding
- Senate: Fully funded request
Both chambers included:
- Additional senior nutrition funding to address waitlists
- Proviso language directing funding priorities
Yesterday, a motion was made in the Senate to reduce the Medicaid Capacity Payment from $20/resident/day to $15/resident/day, which was accepted by the committee. There continues to be pressure from leadership in both chambers to make additional budget cuts. The stated goal this session was to cut another $200 million, on top of the $200 million reduced in the FY26 budget last year. To date, however, the Legislature has added more funding during the budget process than it has cut.
While we remain very much “on the chess board” regarding our funding request, the budget process is far from over. Each chamber’s budget bill must:
- Be debated and amended on the floor,
- Pass its respective chamber, and
- Be negotiated in conference committee.
We expect:
- The House to work its budget bill on the floor this week.
- The Senate to work its budget bill next week after Turnaround.
We will continue monitoring developments closely, as changes are still very possible at every stage of the process.
Policy Bill Updates
HB 2520 was amended to include our recommendation addressing quality of care through increased capacity and passed out of committee last Monday.
HB 2370 – Dementia Care Licensure
LeadingAge Kansas, Larksfield Place, and Midwest Health testified in opposition last week before House Health and Human Services. We emphasized:
- We support the intent of addressing bad actors in state-licensed-only settings.
- We oppose the current language and amendments due to:
- Lack of clear definitions
- Overly prescriptive requirements
- Risk of unintended consequences, including providers hesitating to market dementia care at all, potentially reducing access and awareness for families seeking memory care.
Following testimony, stakeholders, including LeadingAge Kansas and the Alzheimer’s Association, met at the request of Representative Buehler to discuss next steps.
While detailed compromise language could not be finalized immediately, budget proviso language will be inserted directing the Alzheimer’s Association and LeadingAge Kansas to convene a stakeholder group and develop compromise language to the best of their ability by August 1, 2026, for prefiling next session.
If you are interested in serving on this stakeholder group or receiving updates, please complete the interest form.
HB 2718 – Pharmacy Choice in Adult Care Homes
HB 2718 was heard yesterday in House Health and Human Services.
Testimony included:
- One oral proponent: Long-Term Care Ombudsman
- One written neutral: Attica Long Term Care
- One written opponent: Larksfield Place
- One oral opponent: LeadingAge Kansas
LeadingAge Kansas testified in opposition, focusing on regulatory compliance and patient safety. While we support resident rights and choice, the bill lacks protective language to ensure providers can continue meeting extensive state and federal medication administration requirements.
We also highlighted that CMS has struck a balance by not explicitly listing pharmacy as an unlimited resident choice, allowing providers to maintain medication distribution systems designed to reduce risk of harm and medication errors for all residents.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the committee chose not to work the bill and encouraged stakeholders to meet during the interim to determine whether compromise language, or legislation at all, is necessary.
SB 334 – Nurse Faculty Educational Requirements
A couple of weeks ago, SB 334 received a hearing in Senate Commerce. The bill would require nursing program faculty teaching undergraduate students to hold a degree one level higher than the degree being taught.
Yesterday, Senate Commerce worked on the bill with no amendments and passed it out of committee. During discussion, committee members raised questions about whether colleges and higher education institutions oppose the bill based on submitted testimony. You can find testimony here.
If the bill is debated and passed favorably on the Senate floor this week, it will remain eligible to advance in the legislative process.
Turnaround Week & Legislative Calendar
- Tuesday–Thursday: Floor debate on bills, including budget bills.
- Thursday: Turnaround deadline for non-exempt bills to pass their chamber of origin.
- Friday & Monday: No session.
- Legislature returns through March 17 before conference committee work begins.
- Drop-dead day: March 27.
Bills Unlikely to Move Forward
Due to fiscal notes, we do not anticipate movement this year on:
Stay Engaged
You can watch all legislative hearings on the Kansas Legislature YouTube page.
For a full list of bills we are monitoring, click here.
As always, thank you for your advocacy and commitment. Your outreach this week on the budget is especially critical. Keep an eye out for future action alerts to contact your state House Representative.
