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Sponsors push waiver case management rate increase, providers cite workforce crisis
Summary
Senate File 2796 seeks to raise reimbursement rates for waiver case management to reflect cost increases since 2015 and to commission a rate study; providers testified turnover and low pay are driving people with disabilities into crisis situations.
Senate File 2796, a bill to raise reimbursement rates for waiver case management services and to commission a rate study, was presented to the Human Services Committee and laid over for potential inclusion in an omnibus package.
Sponsor Senator Fata said rates have not increased since 2015 and the gap has created a workforce crisis. Case managers work in a high‑skill role that takes months to learn; witnesses said turnover is high and that inconsistent case management has driven individuals into instability.
Jess Wenstrom, a supervisor of case managers at Thomas Allen, described cases in which clients had multiple case managers in short time periods; she said consistent case management helps keep people from entering higher‑cost settings. Denise Dyer, a county waiver case manager in Clay County, described a recent case where overnight staff failed to follow a life‑sustaining medical protocol and said counties rely on experienced case managers to ensure safety and fraud prevention.
Both providers and county representatives told senators that increasing rates and completing a rate study would help stabilize the workforce, reduce churn and produce long‑term savings by avoiding hospitalizations and other costly outcomes.
The committee laid the bill over for possible omnibus inclusion; sponsors said they would provide additional budget numbers and asked members to consider the long‑term savings case management stability would generate.
