Week 10 at the Kansas Statehouse
On Tuesday this week, Senate Public Health and Welfare held a hearing on HB2784, the oversight of CCRC from KID to KDADS bill, and LeadingAge Kansas provided oral, neutral testimony. The two proponents of the bill were the Kansas Insurance Department and Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. LeadingAge Kansas highlighted their current neutral position as more favorable than their opposed position on the House side with the amendments included from the House. However, there were two amendments LeadingAge Kansas wanted the committee to consider including adding Home Plus to the levels of care outlined in definition of CCRC and changing the April 1 deadline back to within four months of the end of the provider’s fiscal year. LeadingAge Kansas anticipates HB2777, the body camera bill, and HB2784 could be worked for final action next week.
The House Appropriations Chairman Waymaster notified the committee a special subcommittee to address contract nursing concerns was set to occur around omnibus. Those appointed to the committee include Representative Les Mason (R-McPherson), Representative Henry Helgerson (D-Wichita), Representative Brenda Landwehr (R-Wichita), Representative Susan Concannon (R-Beloit), and Representative Barbara Ballard (D-Lawrence). The Government Affairs team has reached out to several members asking for them to provide testimony for this committee which we expect to occur around the first week of April. If any members are interested in submitting written or oral testimony on this topic, send an email to Kylee Childs as soon as possible.
The Senate Chamber debated the mega budget bill, SB514, on Wednesday which contains our budget recommendations of the nursing home Medicaid capacity payments extending to FY25, rebasing PACE providers to 90% of the capitated payment, eliminating the 5% haircut hospice providers receive for nursing home patients with Medicaid as a secondary payer, an interim committee to study capacity issues for the HCBS-FE waiver, and staffing agency proviso language. Our recommendations made it through this step of the process and the bill will be passed to the House. We anticipate the House to debate their mega budget bill, HB2273, on the floor sometime next week. You can watch the Senate Chamber recording on YouTube.
A joint informational hearing between Senate Ways and Means and Senate Public Health and Welfare on Medicaid Expansion is set for next Wednesday, March 20 at 10:30 a.m. in room 346-S. It’s important to note this hearing is only informational and not on the actual Medicaid Expansion bill introduced by the Governor in the Senate. House Health and Human Services will also hold a hearing on HB2556, Medicaid Expansion, on that same day at 1:00 p.m. in room 112-N. LeadingAge Kansas plans to submit written-only testimony for both hearings. Committees are expected to wrap up their final action on bills by next week, and head to their respective chamber floors the following week to begin determining conference committee hearings or passing bills on to Governor Kelly for signature.
Bill Tracker
View our bill tracker to see which bills are exempt from legislative deadlines and upcoming hearings.
Coming Up
Monday – Potential final action in Senate Public Health and Welfare on bills previously heard.
Wednesday – Informational hearing on Medicaid Expansion in the Senate at 10:30 a.m. and hearing on HB2556, Medicaid Expansion, in House Health and Human Services at 1:00 p.m.
Thursday – Potential final action in Senate Public Health and Welfare on bills previously heard.
If you haven’t yet done so, get registered for the LeadingAge Kansas Spring Conference to attend the General Session: Updates from the Capitol City. Early bird registration ends Friday, March 15!
Not a fan of reading weekly legislative updates? We’ve got you covered. Listen and watch updates each Friday on our Spotify Podcast and TikTok.
