KS
Kansas House Bill HB2310

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas House Bill HB2310 Compare Versions

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11 Session of 2025
22 HOUSE BILL No. 2310
33 By Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development
44 Requested by Representative L. Williams
55 2-6
66 AN ACT concerning individuals with developmental or intellectual
77 disabilities and direct support workers; enacting the career
88 advancement, resources, employment and supports for the disability
99 workforce act, providing for the development of career education
1010 programs and other efforts by the secretary for aging and disability
1111 services to encourage the growth of support for individuals with
1212 disabilities as a profession; requiring the secretary to develop career
1313 education and enhancement programs for such professionals;
1414 mandating performance-based contracting for managed care
1515 organizations and other disability services providers; providing for the
1616 development of processes and procedures that facilitate choice by
1717 individuals with disabilities of service providers and the nature of the
1818 service; requiring rate parity across all state waiver programs; requiring
1919 the secretary to develop and implement an online data portal system for
2020 the management of waitlists and the provision of information to and
2121 communication with individuals with disabilities on a waitlist or
2222 receiving services through a waiver program administered by the
2323 secretary; requiring the secretary of labor to initiate or enhance
2424 classification of and information regarding the disability service
2525 provider workforce and publish such information; providing that
2626 certain direct support workers may be covered by the state health plan;
2727 amending K.S.A. 75-6506 and repealing the existing section.
2828 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
2929 New Section 1. (a) Sections 1 through 8, and amendments thereto,
3030 shall be known and may be cited as the career advancement, resources,
3131 employment and supports for the disability workforce act or the Kansas
3232 CARES act.
3333 (b) This act shall be a part of and supplemental to K.S.A. 39-2001
3434 through 39-2017, and amendments thereto.
3535 New Sec. 2. For purposes of the career advancement, resources,
3636 employment and supports for the disability workforce act:
3737 (a) "Act" means the career advancement, resources, employment and
3838 supports for the disability workforce act, sections 1 through 8, and
3939 amendments thereto.
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7575 (b) "Career ladder program" means a structured pathway that outlines
7676 career progression and development opportunities for direct support
7777 professionals, including training, certifications and promotions.
7878 (c) "Credentialing body" means an authorized organization
7979 responsible for certifying the training and skills of direct support
8080 professionals.
8181 (d) "Disability services provider" means a public or private agency or
8282 organization or a subdivision or subunit of such agency or organization
8383 that is a developmental or intellectual disability services provider that
8484 provides one or more health, supportive, attendant care or other disability
8585 services, in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the
8686 secretary, for a fee by direct support professionals or personal care
8787 attendants for individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities.
8888 (e) "Direct support professional" means an individual with credentials
8989 as required by law that provides services to individuals with intellectual
9090 and developmental disabilities to support such individuals to live
9191 independently.
9292 (f) "Direct support worker" means an individual with credentials as
9393 required by law that provides services in general to individuals with a
9494 disability. A "direct support worker" includes a "direct support
9595 professional."
9696 (g) "Participating employer" means any organization or entity
9797 employing direct support professionals that opts into the career ladder
9898 program.
9999 (h) "Personal care attendant" means an individual who provides daily
100100 living activity support to individuals with intellectual and developmental
101101 disabilities.
102102 (i) "Subunit" or "subdivision" means any organizational unit of a
103103 larger organization that can be clearly defined as a separate entity within
104104 the larger structure, meets all of the requirements of law, independent of
105105 the larger organization, may be held accountable for the care of individuals
106106 with developmental or intellectual disabilities that the organizational unit
107107 is serving and provides to such individuals care and services meeting the
108108 standards and requirements of law.
109109 New Sec. 3. (a) The department, in partnership with the Kansas state
110110 department of education, shall pursue the development and support of
111111 career education programs in Kansas that inform high school and
112112 community college students about careers as direct support professionals
113113 and community or technical college programs that prepare students for
114114 such careers.
115115 (b) In fulfilling this directive, the department shall:
116116 (1) Seek the assistance and cooperation of the midwestern higher
117117 education compact;
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161161 (2) identify and obtain information and guidance from successful
162162 programs in Kansas and other states;
163163 (3) review similar successful programs in Kansas public schools and
164164 community or technical colleges, including, but not limited to, programs
165165 that develop careers as certified nursing assistants or in the field of
166166 emergency medical services; and
167167 (4) engage with Kansas providers that have experience in such
168168 programs and high school or community college students to identify best
169169 practices, successes, challenges and next steps to develop and expand a
170170 successful program.
171171 (c) The department shall adopt the e-badge academy program of the
172172 national alliance for direct support professionals or a substantially similar
173173 career development and professional certification program for applicable
174174 department employees and contractors by December 31, 2025. The
175175 department shall encourage and support participation in such e-badge
176176 academy program or substantially similar career development and
177177 professional certification programs in this state.
178178 New Sec. 4. (a) In cooperation with the secretary of administration,
179179 the secretary shall adopt a performance-based contract program whereby
180180 the department shall measure and improve care management quality by
181181 including contract quality terms in contracts with managed care
182182 organizations and other contractors and shall withhold a portion of state
183183 payments to such contractors for release when such contract quality terms
184184 are met.
185185 (b) The secretary shall develop and require such contract quality
186186 terms to achieve identified and measurable goals, including, but not
187187 limited to:
188188 (1) Identification and pursuit of opportunities to decrease unnecessary
189189 service utilization, including, but not limited to, use of hospital emergency
190190 departments with a focus on such use by individuals with behavioral health
191191 needs and low-income children;
192192 (2) reduction of preventable admissions and 30-day hospital
193193 readmissions for all causes;
194194 (3) improvement of the timeliness of prenatal care and other efforts
195195 that support the reduction of births of babies affected by prenatal drug or
196196 fetal alcohol exposure, including, but not limited to, neonatal abstinence
197197 syndrome;
198198 (4) improvement of integration of physical and behavioral health,
199199 including, but not limited to, increasing the timeliness of follow-up care
200200 after a mental illness or substance use disorder admission;
201201 (5) improvement of management and effectiveness of pharmacy
202202 utilization, including, but not limited to, use of incentive arrangements
203203 with participating providers;
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247247 (6) enhancement of access to and effectiveness of substance abuse
248248 treatment;
249249 (7) identification of social determinants of health and development
250250 and implementation of methods to utilize such information to improve
251251 health;
252252 (8) implementation of methods to better address the needs of patients
253253 that are boarded in hospital emergency departments and waiting for
254254 placements or services and the reduction of such boarding;
255255 (9) identification, development and implementation of means to
256256 address emerging public health trends determined to be a priority by the
257257 department; and
258258 (10) development of a required standard for completion of specified
259259 advanced training by one or more disability service workers employed by
260260 the contractor.
261261 (c) In connection with the performance-based contract program, the
262262 secretary shall require managed care organizations and other large
263263 providers or provider systems, as determined and identified by the
264264 secretary, to adopt a total cost of care model with shared savings to the
265265 maximum extent feasible. Such total cost of care model shall include
266266 quality thresholds or benchmarks as required by subsections (a) and (b).
267267 When developing the performance-based contract program for small
268268 providers, as determined and identified by the secretary, the secretary shall
269269 take into consideration the capacity of the provider, incorporating
270270 collaborative care models, pay-for-performance bonus incentives or per-
271271 member-per-month payments related to such a provider's success in
272272 meeting actuarially relevant cost and quality targets.
273273 New Sec. 5. (a) On or before December 31, 2026, the secretary shall
274274 develop and implement procedures and guidelines that permit individuals
275275 with intellectual and developmental disabilities greater choice when
276276 receiving supports and services through waiver programs administered by
277277 the secretary. The secretary shall develop and implement these procedures
278278 and guidelines with the goal of increasing flexibility for waiver
279279 participants to select personalized services and supports, including the
280280 selection of the provider of such services and the manner by which such
281281 services are provided. Such procedures and guidelines shall be developed
282282 to allow waiver participants to take responsibility for managing all aspects
283283 of service delivery in the supports and services planning process.
284284 (b) Subject to appropriations on or before December 31, 2026, the
285285 secretary shall achieve rate parity across all state waiver programs
286286 administered by the secretary. Thereafter, the secretary shall require that an
287287 increase in the rate for one waiver program is matched with an equivalent
288288 increase in rates in all other waiver programs.
289289 (c) On or before December 31, 2025, the secretary shall establish a
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333333 statewide registry for direct support workers for the purpose of ensuring
334334 that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities receiving
335335 medicaid-covered home and community-based services have awareness of
336336 and access to qualified direct support workers that deliver such services.
337337 The secretary shall require registration of business contact information and
338338 services provided by direct support workers engaged in programs
339339 administered by the secretary or employees of managed care organizations
340340 or other contractors. No personal identification information shall be
341341 required. The secretary shall publish the registry on the department's
342342 website for access by the public. The registry shall be consistent with
343343 relevant recommendations of the federal centers for medicare and
344344 medicaid services for such a registry.
345345 New Sec. 6. On or before October 1, 2025, the secretary of labor, in
346346 cooperation with the secretary for aging and disability services, shall
347347 initiate or expand tracking of labor statistics and information for direct
348348 support professionals and personal care attendants, including, but not
349349 limited to, currently open positions, the near-term, medium-term and long-
350350 term anticipated need for such workers and the number of qualified
351351 workers in this state available to meet such labor needs. As necessary, the
352352 secretary of labor shall adopt occupational codes for direct support
353353 professionals and personal care attendants. The secretary of labor shall
354354 publish such information in the manner that other department of labor
355355 statistics are published and shall also provide such information to the
356356 secretary for aging and disability services upon request by the secretary
357357 and at least annually.
358358 New Sec. 7. (a) (1) Subject to appropriations therefor, the secretary
359359 shall cause to be developed and implemented and shall administer a new
360360 online data portal system on the website of the department that shall
361361 support waiting list management for agency staff and provide waitlist and
362362 waiver program information to individuals with disabilities who are on the
363363 intellectual and developmental disability and physical disability waiver
364364 waitlists. The system shall enable and facilitate communication between
365365 the department and individuals on a waiver waitlist and their families as to
366366 the health, disability service or support needs of such individuals. The
367367 system shall have the capability of monitoring performance and staffing
368368 across all waiver programs administered by the secretary. The system shall
369369 be developed and implemented on or before December 31, 2026, or as
370370 soon thereafter as appropriations permit. The secretary shall make
371371 quarterly reports to the legislature on the progress of development and
372372 implementation of the system, including, but not limited to, progress made
373373 in engaging a contractor or acquiring additional staff and progress by the
374374 contractor or inhouse personnel in developing and implementing the
375375 system.
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419419 (2) The online data portal system shall provide public access on the
420420 department's website to nonconfidential information regarding the waiver
421421 waitlists and waiver programs while securing and ensuring confidential
422422 data integrity and shall be integrated and interoperable with other data or
423423 systems that are part of the home and community-based services waiver
424424 program and other waiver programs administered by the secretary. The
425425 system shall support the generation of waiting list reports and ensure
426426 compliance with the federal medicaid access rule. The system shall
427427 provide the capability of accessing data by geographical regions and
428428 demographics.
429429 (b) (1) The online data portal system shall enable:
430430 (A) Families and individuals to securely access current information
431431 about their position on the intellectual and developmental disability or
432432 physical disability waiver waitlist;
433433 (B) users to confirm the accuracy of their personal and waiver
434434 application information and make necessary updates, thereby reducing
435435 errors and ensuring efficient processing;
436436 (C) users to directly submit questions about required documentation
437437 and waiver eligibility through the portal;
438438 (D) the reduction of errors and enhancement of efficiency in
439439 processing applications and other documents and facilitation of timely
440440 responses by department staff to user questions; and
441441 (E) communication between department staff and individuals with
442442 disabilities and their families on waitlists or participating in waiver
443443 programs regarding health or disability service or support needs of such
444444 individuals.
445445 (2) The secretary shall ensure the online data portal system meets the
446446 following requirements. The system shall:
447447 (A) Accommodate diverse communication capabilities and
448448 preferences between department staff and individuals with disabilities and
449449 their families to ensure accessibility, including options for encrypted
450450 email, secure text messaging and phone call notifications. Families and
451451 individuals on the waitlist or on a waiver shall be able to select their
452452 preferred method of communication to receive updates and
453453 correspondence from the department and make requests, seek assistance,
454454 ask questions or provide information to the department;
455455 (B) comply with state and federal data privacy regulations and
456456 incorporate robust encryption and authentication methods to protect
457457 sensitive or confidential information;
458458 (C) include educational resources, FAQs and guidance documents to
459459 assist families and individuals in navigating the waiver process and
460460 understanding their rights and responsibilities; and
461461 (D) provide automated notifications to inform families and
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505505 individuals of any changes to their waitlist status or additional information
506506 or action needed by the department and other measures to enhance
507507 transparent and proactive communications.
508508 Sec. 8. K.S.A. 75-6506 is hereby amended to read as follows: 75-
509509 6506. (a) The participation of a person qualified to participate in the state
510510 health care healthcare benefits program shall be voluntary, and the cost of
511511 the state health care healthcare benefits program for such person shall be
512512 established by the Kansas state employees health care healthcare
513513 commission.
514514 (b) Periodic deductions from state payrolls may be made in
515515 accordance with procedures prescribed by the secretary of administration
516516 to cover the costs of the state health care healthcare benefits program
517517 payable by persons who are on the state payroll when authorized by such
518518 persons. Any such periodic payroll deductions in effect on an
519519 implementation date for biweekly payroll periods shall be collected in the
520520 manner prescribed by the secretary of administration.
521521 (c) In the event that the Kansas state employees health care
522522 healthcare commission designates by rules and regulations a group of
523523 persons on the payroll of a county, township, city, special district or other
524524 local governmental entity, public school district, licensed child care facility
525525 operated by a not-for-profit corporation providing residential group foster
526526 care for children and receiving reimbursement for all or part of such care
527527 from the Kansas department for children and families, nonprofit
528528 community mental health center, as provided in K.S.A. 19-4001 et seq.,
529529 and amendments thereto, nonprofit community facility for people with
530530 intellectual disability, as provided in K.S.A. 19-4001 et seq., and
531531 amendments thereto, or nonprofit independent living agency, as defined in
532532 K.S.A. 65-5101, and amendments thereto, or disability services provider,
533533 as defined in section 2, and amendments thereto, as qualified to participate
534534 in the state health care healthcare benefits program, periodic deductions
535535 from payrolls of the local governmental entity, public school district,
536536 licensed child care facility operated by a not-for-profit corporation
537537 providing residential group foster care for children and receiving
538538 reimbursement for all or part of such care from the Kansas department for
539539 children and families, nonprofit community mental health center, as
540540 provided in K.S.A. 19-4001 et seq., and amendments thereto, nonprofit
541541 community facility for people with intellectual disability, as provided in
542542 K.S.A. 19-4001 et seq., and amendments thereto, or nonprofit independent
543543 living agency, as defined in K.S.A. 65-5101, and amendments thereto, or
544544 disability services provider, as defined in section 2, and amendments
545545 thereto, may be made to cover the costs of the state health care healthcare
546546 benefits program payable by such persons when authorized by such
547547 persons. All such moneys deducted from payrolls shall be remitted to the
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591591 Kansas state employees health care commission in accordance with the
592592 directions of the commission.
593593 (d) Whenever the Kansas state employees health care commission
594594 designates any entity listed in subsection (c) as qualified to participate in
595595 the state health care healthcare benefits program, such entity's
596596 participation shall be conditioned upon the following:
597597 (1) At least 70% of such entity's employees shall participate in the
598598 state health care healthcare plan;
599599 (2) except as provided by paragraph (6) of this subsection, the rate of
600600 the premium paid by the entity as the employer's share of the total amount
601601 of premium paid shall be at least equal to the rate paid by the state of
602602 Kansas for its employees;
603603 (3) the entity shall not create, maintain or permit any exemption from
604604 participation in the state health care healthcare plan for such entity's
605605 employees;
606606 (4) the rate charged to such entity shall be sufficient to pay for any
607607 administrative or underwriting costs incurred by the state employees health
608608 care commission;
609609 (5) the rate charged to such entity shall not increase the rate of
610610 premium paid by the state of Kansas for its employees;
611611 (6) the entity shall elect to participate for a minimum of three
612612 consecutive years in the state health care healthcare benefits program; and
613613 (7) the commission may authorize an entity to pay less than the state
614614 rate for the employee coverage for no more than three years and no more
615615 than five years for dependent coverage on the condition that the entity
616616 elects to participate for at least three consecutive years after first paying
617617 the state rate for employee coverage.
618618 Sec. 9. K.S.A. 75-6506 is hereby repealed.
619619 Sec. 10. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
620620 publication in the statute book.
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