Capitol Comments Articles
House Social Services Budget Committee Reviews Interim Recommendations

Budget 3 (Jan. 13, 2026) – Yesterday, the House Social Services Budget Committee, chaired by Representative Dave Buehler (R-Lansing), reviewed the following interim committee recommendations:

  • Special Committee on Health and Social Services
    • Reducing reliance on state hospital contract staffing by:
      • Requesting the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services to study and develop cost-effective alternatives to staff while minimizing contract staffing
      • Request that KDADS create a list of publicly funded behavioral health service providers and who they serve
      • Study ways to incentivize and attract additional nursing faculty and increase pay
      • Direct KDADS to work with the Department of Administration to determine how to allow state hospitals to create internal PRN nursing positions
      • Increase the transfer of funds for lottery vending machines to support community crisis stabilization centers and the clubhouse model program
      • Consider ways to promote or incentivize hospitals to become State Institutional Alternatives facilities for inpatient treatment
      • Study sentencing guidelines for sexually violent crimes and the Sexual Predator Treatment Program at Larned State Hospital
    • Intellectual and Developmental Disability Waiver and Targeted Case Management
      • Request a project timeline for the Community Support waiver
      • Request a fiscal note to increase day services from 25 to 40 hours per week and to consider this increase for individuals enrolled in the Intellectual/Developmental Disability Home and Community-Based Services Waiver
      • Direct KDADS to use a cautious approach to unbundling day services
      • Direct KDADS to develop a plan for waitlist data management
      • Direct KDADS to develop the Only Willing and Qualified Provider waiver
    • Nursing Facility Surveying, Certification, Credentialing and Fines
      • Consider ways to prevent facilities from charging pharmacy provider fees to residents who choose their own pharmacies
      • Consider establishing an independent informal dispute process
      • Request KDADS present testimony to the appropriate health committee
      • Consider forming multidisciplinary survey teams to ease hiring challenges and workforce strain
      • Consider establishing an evaluation, survey, or scorecard for providers to survey the surveyors
         Determine the parameters of the civil monetary penalty reimbursement fund
      • Consider authorizing KDADS to waive long-term care regulations for nursing facilities that conflict
      • Study the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requirements for nursing facility surveys and determine a way to incentivize self-reporting without adverse effects on facilities
      • Consider raising salaries for registered nurse surveyors and offering additional benefits, such as paid maternity leave, to attract and retain staff
      • Determine the fiscal impact of increasing the personal-needs allowance and the cost-of-living adjustment
  • Robert G. (Bob) Bethell Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight Committee
    • A complex wheelchair and/or durable medical equipment work group will be formed and will report back in January 2026 with analyses of preventive maintenance and/or safety check processes and the billing process
    • The state's long-term care resident rights should be amended to include the right to a pharmacist and pharmacy of the resident's choice, irrespective of the facility's medication distribution system, and to ensure that the resident is neither charged a fee nor receives a financial incentive or disincentive for choosing a pharmacy other than the facility's preferred pharmacy
    • A letter requesting LCC approval to request legislative involvement from the governor regarding the Rural Health Transformation Program
    • That KDADS be commended for its efforts to provide a certification program in partnership with the Kansas Direct Support Workforce Development Hub
    • Hold an informational hearing on the availability and/or current use of Artificial Intelligence Health Technology during the 2026 Legislative Session in the House Committee on Health and Human Services
    • Amend the independent surveying process and the formation of a seven-member committee for informal dispute resolution
    • Review of HB 2386 to remove the year-specific language (2008) regarding the federal poverty level for eligibility in the Children's Health Insurance Program
    • Direct the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and KDADS to request a billing code from CMS for sedation dentistry mobile providers
    • Add an additional 500 slots to be funded for the Intellectual/Developmental Disability waiver
    • Continued support for the Community Waiver

The committee also heard that neither the Special Committee on Pharmaceutical Studies nor the Joint Committee on Child Welfare System Oversight had made any recommendations. The committee will meet again on Thursday, Jan. 15.