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Aging services leaders warn workforce, regulatory and reimbursement pressures fuel nursing‑home closures
Summary
Leading Age Kansas and the Kansas Health Care Association told the committee that COVID‑era losses of beds, workforce shortages, and reimbursement issues are creating care deserts and threatening access, and urged sustained Medicaid add‑ons and regulatory clarity.
Kylie Childs of Leading Age Kansas and Linda Mowbray, president and CEO of the Kansas Health Care Association, briefed the House committee on the current state of aging services across Kansas and urged legislative attention to workforce, reimbursement and regulatory issues.
Childs described the full continuum of aging services represented by her association and said Kansas faces growing “care deserts” after COVID: she said about 89,000 Kansans live in areas with only one nursing or residential care provider within a 30‑minute drive and about 32,000 live in areas with no such provider within 30 minutes. Childs thanked the legislature for Medicaid add‑on funding in the last two years that she said helped many providers reach near 100% cost reimbursement and slowed closures.
Mowbray told the committee the state has fewer counties with a skilled nursing facility than historically: at the latest count she cited, 96 of 105 counties had a skilled nursing facility, down from earlier levels. She discussed the cost pressures faced by families—Medicare generally covers limited post‑acute skilled care (at most 100 days in most cases) and residents may face monthly costs of roughly $7,000–$10,000 if private payment is required.
Both witnesses called for continued Medicaid rate support, reforms to staffing agency contracting and transparency, and changes to federal survey and certification policies they called overly punitive. Childs said Leading Age Kansas opposes the current CMS minimum staffing standards rule as inadequate to address worker shortages and supports congressional efforts to ease restrictions that prevent nursing facilities cited in surveys from offering certified nursing assistant (CNA) training while working to return to compliance.
Witnesses also described the sector’s economic role: nursing facilities and other aging providers often represent large local employers whose closure can cause revenue losses for communities. Committee members asked clarifying questions about differences between assisted living and skilled nursing standards; Mowbray explained that skilled nursing facilities are federally regulated and subject to Medicare/Medicaid participation rules, while assisted‑living settings are state‑licensed and must follow KDADS standards and disclosures but are not federally regulated in the same way.
No committee votes were held during the presentations; both organizations offered to provide additional materials and to serve as resources for members.
