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State long-term care ombudsman urges discharge reporting expansion, pharmacy choice protections and more surveyors
Summary
Kansas state long-term care ombudsman Haley Ordoyne told lawmakers the office seeks stronger reporting when residents are discharged from assisted living, limits on pharmacy administrative fees for residents who choose a different pharmacy and more state surveyor staffing to enforce care rules.
Haley Ordoyne, the Kansas state long-term care ombudsman, presented a series of recommendations to the Bethell committee on July 9 focused on protecting residents in adult care homes and assisted living. Ordoyne described the ombudsman role as an advocate for residents in adult care settings and said the office routinely investigates resident-rights complaints and coordinates with state surveyors and law enforcement where needed.
Three specific changes Ordoyne urged lawmakers to consider:
- Expand automated discharge reporting to include assisted living and "home plus" settings. Ordoyne said federally licensed skilled nursing facilities already notify the ombudsman of certain discharges; assisted-living facilities do not. The ombudsman said earlier notice would let the office intervene in potentially inappropriate discharges and reduce what she called "transfer trauma."
- Limit or prohibit administrative fees charged to residents who insist on using a local or preferred pharmacy. Ordoyne said some homes charge residents $200–$300 per month to set up medications with a pharmacy that is not the facility’s contracted provider. She said this practice can price out low-income residents and that no Kansas statute currently bans it.
- Raise the personal needs allowance for Medicaid residents to allow a more livable monthly discretionary amount. Ordoyne said the current personal-needs allowance is $62 per month and urged the committee to consider increases to let residents pay for hair care, phone service and other small but important items.
Ordoyne also emphasized a long-standing concern: vacancies among state surveyors who inspect facilities. She said state staffing for surveyors was roughly 50% vacant, leaving existing surveyors with an excessive workload. "If they're not at full capacity to be able to do so, it can take way longer than absolutely necessary for them to come in and investigate," Ordoyne said, adding that unattended small problems can grow into major neglect cases.
Committee members pressed her on details. Senator Patty and Representative Bueller asked whether vacancy figures referred to funded positions that were unfilled; Ordoyne said they were unfilled positions. Members suggested the committee invite KDADS to interim discussions about recruiting, pay and job classification changes.
Ordoyne also called for more training on dementia for direct-care workers, broader discharge-notification laws to cover assisted living, and collection of provider-specific data on pharmacy setup fees so the state could gauge whether legislative action is warranted. She invited lawmakers to ride along with ombudsmen on visits to care homes.
Ending: Ordoyne framed her requests as practical steps to prevent resident harm and said the ombudsman office would gladly work with lawmakers and state agencies to craft statutory or funding changes.
