Kansas Mental Health Coalition News

Special Committee will make Recommendations for Mental Health Hospitals

Amy Campbell — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 13:00:23 GMT

The Special Committee on Health and Social Services is due to make recommendations Thursday, October 2, after lunch regarding how to reduce spending on contract staffing at the state hospitals. This will include a conversation about whether or not to privatize state hospital operations at the South Central Mental Health Hospital when it opens in 2027.

If inpatient beds are important to you, please email Committee members TODAY to request the following:

- Please do not reduce the number of state hospital beds available for Kansans who need psychiatric hospitalization.

- Please support increasing the cap on Lottery funds dedicated to crisis services and clubhouse programs. These programs directly divert from state hospital admissions.

- Please support changes to expand the availability of State Institutions Alternatives beds at community hospitals.

- Please support a federal waiver application to the IMD Exclusion that will allow some Medicaid funding for psychiatric inpatient beds that is not currently available.

- Please do not recommend privatization of state hospital units, outside of the State Institutions Alternatives program.

We know that advocacy is personal - so please write your email in a way that reflects your own concerns. Send to committee members from your area or all committee members. You could also email your own legislators - even if they are not on the committee. The Legislature is likely to tackle these costs and possible changes in the next session.

See spreadsheet of Committee members

See pdf of Committee members

Link to kslegislature page for Special Committee with links to members.

Testimony for Special Committee on Health and Social Services re: Mental Health Hospitals

Amy Campbell — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 15:24:31 GMT

Amy Campbell delivered testimony to the Special Committee on Health and Social Services on August 20, 2025 on the topic of state hospitals and the difficult issue of fully staffing the inpatient beds needed for Kansans.

See the testimony here.

There were lots of questions from members of the Committee - that discussion ranged well beyond the written testimony. To view the hearing and testimony - link here and advance to 10:38 a.m. There is very important testimony from Scott Brunner, KDADS Deputy Secretary of Hospitals and Facilities earlier in the video.

Contact Your Congressional Representative Today

Amy Campbell — Tue, 20 May 2025 17:14:52 GMT

Congress Advancing Budget Reconciliation Bill with Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP

This week, the House plans to vote on the Budget Reconciliation Bill - a.k.a. “Big Beautiful Bill”. At 1:00 a.m. tonight, the House Rules Committee will take up the latest version, make some adjustments, and then advance it for consideration by the full House.

Please take a moment to contact your congressional representatives in Washington D.C. to oppose the bill’s $715 billion cuts to Medicaid, $290 billion cuts to SNAP (food benefits) and increasing the numbers of uninsured Americans by 8.7 million by removing people from Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage. It is also a great concern the bill pushes additional costs and administrative burdens to the states without adding federal funds to cover those new duties. Work requirements are being spread across Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, and even ACA insurance and experience indicates that whether or not people are able to meet the work requirements, the administrative reporting requirements will likely push people off of their coverage when they fail to meet all of those requirements. All of these concerns add up to more barriers to care for people who live with mental health and substance use issues.

Scroll down for more details about the legislation.

Use the NAMI advocacy link to express your opposition to these Medicaid changes:

Act Now

Protect Medicaid

Congress Advancing Budget Reconciliation Bill with Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP

Amy Campbell — Tue, 20 May 2025 17:00:00 GMT

More Information about the Medicaid Provisions in the Budget Reconciliation Bill

It took 27 hours last week for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to “mark up” their version of the budget reconciliation proposal that includes Medicaid changes projected to reduce the deficit by $715 billion over ten years and increase the number of people without health insurance by 8.7 million. They worked through the night, and advanced their portion of the reconciliation bill May 14.

In the weeks leading up to the emergence of the House Medicaid cuts proposal on May 12 – the first time the selected cuts were revealed to the public - leaders changed the outline of the targeted reductions multiple times. An original concept to focus mostly on Medicaid expansion states and populations was modified significantly. A proposal for per capita Medicaid limits had been widely predicted, but was not included. Democrats criticized the rush to push the bill through by working through the night, arguing that the debate showed many members did not understand the changes.

The work of the House Energy and Commerce Committee was taken up by the House Budget Committee and combined to create the Big Beautiful Bill promoted by the White House to extend tax cuts and reduce spending across many programs. On Friday, a motion to move the full bill failed – with four Republicans joining 16 Democrats voting no. Those Republicans were ultimately convinced to vote “present” on Sunday, to allow the bill to pass 17-16.

The cuts to Medicaid mostly focus on states with Medicaid Expansion and those that use state funds to cover immigrants, but include many provisions that will impact non-expansion states as well – including work requirements, capped provider taxes, increased administrative burdens, increased state cost sharing, limiting the lookback period (retroactive coverage) to one month, limiting inpatient hospital and nursing home rates to the Medicare rate, prohibiting implementation of the minimum staffing rule for long term care facilities and eliminating enhanced match for states that choose to expand Medicaid in the future.

The following includes a full summary of the Medicaid provisions included in the legislation approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee compared to current law. Please view this table – it is the best list I have found thus far.

Tracking the Medicaid Provisions in the 2025 Reconciliation Bill | KFF

Tracking the Medicaid Provisions in the 2025 Reconciliation Bill | KFF

KFF is tracking the Medicaid provisions in the 2025 federal budget bill, including new Medicaid work and verific...

There are significant additional reductions above and beyond Medicaid that will impact Kansans including:

SNAP: Food benefits reductions more than $290 billion over ten years – pushing major portions of SNAP costs to states. An amended cost-sharing formula would be connected to payment error rates. SNAP would also see additional work documentation requirements.

ACA: Reduce access to federal subsidies that help people pay for health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace (Affordable Care Act). Participants would face stricter minimum work requirements or lose their subsidies.

The bill will now go to the House Rules Committee to set parameters for floor debate before it can go to the House floor for a vote. The lack of unanimity amongst Republicans in the Budget Committee vote suggests changes will need to be made in the Rules Committee to get the votes necessary to pass on the House floor.

President Trump met with Republicans Tuesday morning to attempt to gather the votes necessary to keep the Budget Reconciliation Bill moving, but there is a group of conservatives pushing for deeper cuts. The House Rules Committee already released revisions that include cuts to federal employee benefits. Rumors suggest those changes might include expediting the work requirements – currently delayed until 2029.

Because the House Budget Committee vote took place in the middle of the night, the 48 hour rule means the House Rules Committee is scheduled to begin its work at 1:00 a.m. Wednesday (tonight). They hope to have a vote in the House Thursday. Speaker Johnson says Congress will work into the holiday weekend if necessary.

Please note that due to the changing nature of the activities in Washington D.C., there may be further changes as the legislation moves through the process.

Contact: Amy Campbell - email

Community Medicaid Conversations This Week

Amy Campbell — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 15:18:02 GMT

Join the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas for a week of Community Conversations on Medicaid, happening across Kansas starting tomorrow. Kansas Representatives and Senators and their staff have been invited, and now we need you there to tell them what's at stake.

This week's schedule (6:30-7:30pm each evening):

Topeka - Mon., April 21, @ Topeka Shawnee County Public Library
Wichita - Tues., April 22 @ Wichita Public Library - Westlink Branch
Salina - Wed., April 23 @ Salina Public Library
Kansas City - Thu., April 24 @ Johnson County Public Library - Monticello branch

Whether you get care through Medicaid, or you are a caregiver, healthcare provider, or advocate of someone who does, this is your chance to share your story and protect our care.

Want to speak? Sign up now to reserve your spot
Speaker list full? Bring your written story or comments and we'll provide it to lawmakers
Can't attend in person? We'll be livestreaming on Facebook and sending the recording to Members of Congress

Your voice can stop these cuts. Let's fill the room, flood the livestream, and send a clear message from Kansas: No cuts to Medicaid!

RSVP to sign up to speak or to save your seat

-- Invitation from the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas - expandkancare.com

House Passed Budget and Senate Budget Hearings Begin

Amy Campbell — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 18:21:06 GMT

The Legislature passed it's Turnaround Deadline February 21 - when bills are supposed to pass either the House or Senate and then move to the other chamber for consideration. Some bills are exempt from deadlines, but the 2025 Legislature is working to push legislation at a pace that is expedited this year.

Sub HB 2007 was passed by the House and is now in the process of being revised by the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The 2025 budget process is different than previous years. In past years, the House would create its budget bill and the Senate would create its budget bill. Then, the two would meet in conference committee to negotiate a compromise, that would then be approved by the House and Senate once again.

This year, HB 2007 began in the House, with the Appropriations Committee compiling the recommendations of various agency budget committees and inserting its own revisions. Then, the bill was passed as amended by the House of Representatives and goes to the Senate for consideration. This has drastically compressed the amount of time each chamber has to consider the budgets for every state agency.

Now, the Senate Ways and Means Committee begins its work but will not host traditional public hearings. Instead, interested citizens and groups must submit written testimony to the Committee 24 hours ahead of the hearing for their agency of interest and deliver 20 copies of the testimony before 10:30 the day prior to the hearing. It has been a challenge to meet with the committee members, as stakeholders scramble to have conversations about their budget requests.

In early committee action, Ways and Means has amended 2007 to strip House enhancements for Dept of Commerce programs and higher education. This seems to indicate the Senate will carve out space for its own recommendations by reducing the House version rather than adding Senate spending on top.

Hearing dates:

March 4 KDADS and State Hospitals

March 5 KDHE

March 5 DCF

NOTE: The budget bill and process was discussed in detail at the February 26 KMHC meeting. You may find more information at that agenda.

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LIST OF KMHC LEGISLATION TO WATCH

House Committee Hear 988 and MHIT Updates

Amy Campbell — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:22:31 GMT

House Health Committee Hears Update on 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Drew Adkins, KDADS Behavioral Health Commissioner provided an update on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. See report attached.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was implemented nationally, and in Kansas, on July 16, 2022. 988 is currently answered in Kansas by HeadQuarters Kansas, COMCARE of Sedgwick County, Johnson County Mental Health Center, Wyandot Behavioral Health Network, and HealthSource Integrated Solutions. 988 is overseen by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and administered by Vibrant Emotional Health.

The 988 system in Kansas has continued to grow since its implementation in July 2022. The state is working to meet the increasing demand for services by expanding chat and text capabilities to several other centers. These enhancements aim to improve accessibility and ensure that Kansans have more options to connect with 988 services when needed. Geo-routing capabilities went live in Fall 2024, providing connections for callers to the closest call center based on their physical location instead of area code.

House Health Committee Hears Update on Mental Health Intervention Teams program for K-12 Schools

Drew Adkins, KDADS Behavioral Health Commissioner provided an update on the MHIT program last week. The creation of MHIT by the Legislature in 2018 responded to the increased number of students and families needing behavioral health services and removed barriers that made it difficult to link students with effective mental health support. HB 2236 will be heard by House Health and Human Services next Tuesday to establish the program in statute.

The pilot proviso authorized nine school districts to enter into agreements with their local community mental health centers to provide school-based services. The latest KDADS report states the program serves 130 schools and partners with 20 CCBHCs, several Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and private providers. The partners link services into the school buildings to reduce time away from the classroom, provide after-hours resources and maximize the use of mental health professionals through partnerships – reducing competition for those professionals. Each MHIT participating school selects their preferred mental health provider(s). Link to KDADS Program Update

Link to KMHC Testimony for HB 2236

How to Track Calendars and Live Stream Meetings

Amy Campbell — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 21:16:56 GMT

The House and Senate Calendars are posted every day with the schedule for hearings and legislative action. https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/chamber/calendars/

Below is an example of how committee schedules are publicized, with the contact information for the Committee Assistant at the top, and the time and location. Here is the current schedule for the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee from the Senate Calendar:

Public Health and Welfare

8:30 a.m. Suzanne Nelson, Committee Assistant–785-296-5123 142-S

Tuesday, January 21

Request for bill introductions

Presentation on:

Kansas Department for Health and Environment Agency Overview by Secretary Janet Stanek; Ashley Goss, Deputy Secretary for Public Health; and Christine Osterlund, Deputy Secretary for Agency Integration and Medicaid Director

Presentation on: Overview of Kansas Association of Local Health Departments by Randy Bowman, Executive Director

Wednesday, January 22

Request for bill introductions

Presentation on: Overview of Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) by Andrea Warnke, DCF Legislative Liaison

Presentation on: Office of the Child Advocate by Kerrie Lonard, Acting Kansas Child Advocate

Thursday, January 23

Request for bill introductions

Presentation on: KanCare Ombudsman (Virtual) by Suzanne J. Lueker, J.D., LL.M, KanCare Ombudsman and Executive Director

Presentation on: Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit: Osawatomie State Hospital Audit by Kristin Rottinghaus, Deputy Post Auditor, Legislative Post Audit

Presentation on: TANF Audit by Matt Etzel, Performance Audit Manager, Legislative Post Audit

Presentation on: Association of Community Health Centers of Kansas, Inc. by Kyle Kessler, Executive Director and Michelle Ponce, Associate Director

To listen to the livestream of committee hearings or House/Senate chamber proceedings, select Audio/Video in the upper right corner of the screen at https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/ and select the committee. There are also archived recordings at this link. OR you can subscribe to the Kansas Legislature channel at YouTube.

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All committee hearings and chamber proceedings can be found on the Kansas Legislature’s YouTube page.
All legislation, committee membership, and meeting times can be found on the Kansas Legislature's Website page.

Agency Budget Hearings Beginning Now

Amy Campbell — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 21:15:45 GMT

House Social Services Budget Committee is beginning public hearings for social services agencies now.

The 2025 Kansas Legislative Session began January 13. The Governors Budget Report was released January 16 - see report here https://budget.kansas.gov/budget-report/ The budget process this year is happening much faster than in previous years and the Governor’s Budget Report is an advisory document, instead of the starting point for the Legislature’s budget legislation.

To testify on agency budgets before the House Social Services Budget Committee, email Francisca Hernandez at Social.Svc.Budget@house.ks.gov or call 785-296-7660. Testimony will be due the day before the public hearing, and the hearing is at 3:30 p.m. in the House Social Services Budget Committee room 152-S. The Committee has many new members, so it is worthwhile to get to know them as soon as possible if you have items to come before the committee.

HSSBC Schedule:

Jan 22 – Wednesday – State Hospitals Public Hearing

Jan 23 – Dept. for Children and Families Agency Overview

Jan 24 – Dept. for Children and Families Public Testimony

Jan 27 – KDHE – Overview – includes Division of Health and KanCare

Jan 28 – KDHE Public Testimony

Jan 29 – KDADS Agency Overview

Jan 30 – KDADS Public Testimony

Mental Health Advocacy Day is March 13 - Don't Miss It!

Amy Campbell — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 14:25:17 GMT

EVENT DETAILS: Each year, the Kansas Mental Health Coalition invites hundreds of Kansans to convene at the Statehouse for Mental Health Advocacy Day.

Hosted by the Kansas Mental Health Coalition and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

DON'T MISS the free training opportunities hosted by NAMI Kansas to prepare you to be an effective advocate! Sign up for the online OR in person training sessions through the digital QR codes at the bottom of this email.

Seeking Volunteers

The Kansas Mental Health Coalition is seeking volunteers for Advocacy Day!

Advocacy Day depends on dedicated volunteers to make it a success. We would welcome our attending coalition members to support the event by volunteering a portion of their day.

You can volunteer as little as 1 hour or as much as the entire day. Volunteer tasks include assignments such as registration, directing guests, assisting exhibitors, or supporting advocates in their appointments with their legislators. Volunteer time slots begin at 8am and last until 3pm.

If you are unable to attend the event but still want to help, we are seeking volunteers to assist advocates in making appointments with their legislators ahead of the event. This could be done by phone or email in the weeks leading up to the event.

Contact Monica Kurz, Advocacy Committee Chair - mkurz@healthsrc.org - with "volunteer" in the subject line. Thank you!

State Hospitals Budget Hearing Next Week - Expedited Budget Process

Amy Campbell — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:20:35 GMT

To testify regarding the State Hospitals budget, email Francisca Hernandez at Social.Svc.Budget@house.ks.gov. Testimony will be due on Tuesday, January 21, and the hearing is at 3:30 p.m. in the House Social Services Budget Committee. The Committee has many new members, so it is worthwhile to get to know them as soon as possible if you have items to come before the committee. See Committee information here: https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/committees/ctte_h_soc_srvcs_bdgt_1/

Legislative Leadership established an expedited budget process this session with budget hearings beginning this week. Typically, we wouldn't start attending budget hearings for another 2 weeks or so, but the Legislature decided not to wait for the Governors Budget Report to be presented and analyzed first. Instead, a Special Committee on Legislative Budget established a legislative budget proposal in December and has already introduced HB 2007 to begin hearings immediately. We will talk more about this and other 2025 issues at our monthly KMHC Meeting next Wednesday.

The House Appropriations Committee intends to pass the session's major budget bill through the House and pass it on to the Senate for action in February. This will require budget subcommittees to work very quickly to get their recommendations to the Appropriations Committee. Appropriations will put together the major budget bill for the full House to consider - with the Senate intending to work on whatever the House passes to them. There will not be a parallel budget subcommittee process in the Senate this year. It appears the full House budget will be worked on by the Senate Ways and Means Committee before going to the full Senate. It is unclear how much opportunity for public input will be scheduled in the Senate - so advocates should plan to participate in House budget committee hearings if possible.

Additionally, the House Appropriations Committee has asked state agencies to provide a list of potential budget cuts of 7.5% (excluding caseloads, aid to public schools, and debt service). There is also talk of maybe implementing a "pay go" rule at the committee level - requiring any additional expenditures to be offset by cuts elsewhere. If that happens, committee members may be surprised to see how their options are limited. The Legislative Budget (HB 2007) as proposed by the interim committee was based on the agency requests as submitted to the Governor and approved by the 2024 Legislature, but stripped out most reappropriations, funding that was identified as "one time" funding, all enhancement requests and pay increase proposals. So, there are approved programs that will require new authorization this year - such as the academic workforce initiative approved last session called the Behavioral Health Centers of Excellence. We are all learning the new process, so hopefully there will be flexibility built in.

2025 Legislative Session Begins

Amy Campbell — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 19:18:36 GMT

The Kansas Legislature convened the 2025 Session on Monday, January 13. The new session brings newly elected policymakers and some significant changes in the schedule and process. Specifically, the Legislature plans to end the session by April 12. That is significant, because it is about a week before the spring consensus estimates are reported, which usually allows for some budget adjustments in a typical veto session that has traditionally taken place at the end of April.

The House of Representatives has 20 brand new representatives plus one experienced legislator - Richard Wilborn held leadership positions in the Senate but ran for the House seat held by Rep. Les Mason when he unexpectedly passed away after the 2024 session. There are also four representatives who were appointed in 2024 and could be considered relatively new, as well. Former Reps Steve Huebert and Marty Long have also returned to the House this session.

The Senate has 14 newly elected senators - six who were elected after already serving in the House of Representatives.

With 35% of the Senate seats changing hands - observers are interested to see how if there are new policy issues brought forward. Both the Senate and House elected more Republicans than before, creating a solid super-majority, and Democrats will have to find support from across the aisle to pass any of their priorities.

Regardless, there are plenty of new policymakers to meet and educate about the importance of mental health and substance use services. The Kansas Legislature website is kslegislature.gov.

Kansas Selected as HHS Expands Access to Federal CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration Program

Amy Campbell — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:12:27 GMT

Biden-Harris Administration Expands Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Services with Addition of 10 New States to CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration Program

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Link to Press Release

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act gave HHS the authority to add 10 states to the CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration program every two years, starting with the 10 being announced today

NOTE: Kansas has the first State-initiated CCBHC program in the country - this will bring Kansas into the federal demonstration project.

Note to editors and reporters: Video b-roll of a CCBHC (4 minutes, 41 seconds) and an explainer video “What is a CCBHC? (50 seconds) ” are available for download and use in reporting, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), today welcomed 10 new states into the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Medicaid Demonstration Program, after they successfully developed the necessary state-level infrastructure and worked with providers in their states to develop programs that meet CCBHC standards: Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont. The CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration Program provides states with sustainable funding that helps them expand access to mental health and substance use services, supporting President Biden’s Unity Agenda and the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to tackle the country’s mental health and addiction crises. The expansion of the program directly supports the President’s national strategy to transform our behavioral health system and builds on the Administration’s previous work to build a better crisis continuum of care, including through the transition to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, add a new mobile crisis benefit to Medicaid and new crisis codes to the Medicare program.

“Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics have significantly improved behavioral health treatment in our country, and today’s announcement will dramatically expand and improve access to equitable, quality care for Americans with serious mental health and substance use treatment needs,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, we are adding 10 new states to this groundbreaking demonstration across the country, ensuring our CCBHCs can serve more Americans who need our help.”

CCBHCs must ensure access to a comprehensive range of services, providing care coordination when needed and incorporating evidence-based practices and other supports based on a community needs assessment. This includes crisis services that are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CCBHCs are also required to provide routine outpatient care within 10 business days.

“Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics serve anyone who requests care for mental health or substance use conditions. With sustainable funding, CCBHCs in participating states will now be able to connect more people to the care they need,” said HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm. “This is another example of our commitment at HHS to transforming behavioral health and ensuring all Americans have access to behavioral health resources.”

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), signed into law by President Joe Biden, gave HHS the authority to add 10 new states to the CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration program every two years, starting with the 10 being announced today. All of these states had previously received planning grants, including grants authorized by BSCA in 2022 to address the country’s behavioral health crisis. The 10 states added today join 8 states that are already currently in the CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration program: Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

In March 2023, SAMHSA used BSCA funding to award 15 CCBHC state planning grants. The CCBHC planning phase assists states in certifying clinics as CCBHCs, establishing prospective payment systems for Medicaid reimbursable services, and preparing an application to participate in a four-year demonstration program. A notice of funding opportunity to award 15 additional states with planning grants is expected to be posted this summer for award early in Fiscal Year 2025, and 10 more states will have the opportunity to join the CCBHC Demonstration Program in Fiscal Year 2026. These expansions will build more CCBHCs across the country and, along with the SAMHSA CCBHC expansion grant program, will support increased adoption of this model.

“For our communities to thrive, behavioral health, including mental health, needs to be prioritized,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “That requires an all-hands-on-deck approach, which is why it’s so encouraging to see more states support person- and community-centered solutions like CCBHCs. Aligned with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to mental health, CCBHCs equip communities with the tools they need to tackle many of society’s most entrenched challenges – from substance use disorders and mental health crises to housing insecurity, public safety, and the more efficient use of our health care resources.”

“We’re pleased to welcome these 10 states in the CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration Program and look forward to adding more in the years to come. CCBHCs provide a model of care that supports wellness for the entire community and connects people to care. They guarantee access to services to individuals and families regardless of ability to pay,” said Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., HHS Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and the leader of SAMHSA. “Equity is a significant and overarching priority in all that we do, and expanding and improving the CCBHC model across America helps us to continue our path forward to make quality behavioral health care for everyone even more widely available.”

CCBHCs increase access to crisis and behavioral health care in the community. They have been shown to reduce homelessness and substance use among the people they serve and decrease use of emergency rooms and hospitalization. In September, HHS, through SAMHSA, awarded $127.7 million to expand CCBHCs across the U.S.

The CCBHC Demonstration Program provides reimbursement through Medicaid for the full cost of services that CCBHCs provide, at higher, more competitive rates than community mental health centers previously received for Medicaid eligible individuals. This sustainable funding also ensures CCBHCs can provide a more comprehensive range of services rather than fragmented services driven by separate billing codes.

CCBHCs were created to transform mental health and substance use treatment across the country and provide sustainable funding for robust community outpatient mental health treatment. They are required to meet federal standards for the range of services that they provide. CCBHCs offer a no-wrong-door approach because they must serve anyone who requests care for mental health or substance use conditions, regardless of their ability to pay, place of residence, or age.

In 2017, the first CCBHCs were funded under Medicaid, with 67 clinics operating across eight states. Today, there are more than 500 CCBHCs across 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, most of which are supported through SAMHSA’s CCBHC Expansion Grant program.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol issues, visit FindSupport.gov. If you are ready to locate a treatment facility or provider, you can go directly to FindTreatment.gov or call 800-662-HELP (4357).

Press Announcements: Footer Block

Reporters with questions should send inquiries to media@samhsa.hhs.gov.

Kansas Legislative Session Begins

Amy Campbell — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 21:38:05 GMT

The 2024 Legislative Session kicked off January 8 and Governor Laura Kelly presented her State of the State Address January 10. The Governors Budget Report was released January 11, with the Budget Director Adam Proffitt presenting an overview to a joint meeting of the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means Committees. Link to the presentation below:

Director’s Budget Presentation

The Governor's Budget Report for FY 2025 is posted online. Volume 1 is a summary of the budget recommendations, while Volume 2 covers each agency budget. See links below:

FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report–Volume 1

FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report–Volume 2

KanCare Re-Procurement Public Meetings

Amy Campbell — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 15:50:22 GMT

Budget Hearings Begin - Legislature Considers Bills

Amy Campbell — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 17:27:55 GMT

The 2023 Legislative Session has had a slow start - mostly hearing interim committee reports and hosting informational hearings.

This week, budget hearings begin and there are several hearings on legislation of interest. To submit testimony, contact the committee secretary at least 24 hours in advance - preferably sooner. Most require testimony to be submitted 24 hours before the hearing. Remember, you can also email committee members directly in lieu of testifying.

HEARINGS THIS WEEK:

Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services Donna Fulkerson, Committee Assistant–785-296-7399

Monday, February 6 NOTE TIME CHANGE TO 2:30 P.M. AND ROOM CHANGE TO 548-S (Meeting 1 of 2) Hearing on agency budget: State Hospitals for Mental Health State Hospitals for Intellectual Disabilities

Tuesday, February 7 NOTE TIME CHANGE TO 12:00 P.M. AND ROOM CHANGE TO 144-S Deliberation on agency budget: State Hospitals for Mental Health State Hospitals for Intellectual Disabilities

Wednesday, February 8 NOTE TIME CHANGE TO 3:00 P.M. AND ROOM CHANGE TO 548-S Hearing on agency budget: Department of Children and Families Testimonies

Thursday, February 9 NOTE TIME CHANGE TO 12:00 P.M. AND ROOM CHANGE TO 548-S Hearing on agency budget: Kansas Department of Health and Environment – Health Health Care Stabilization Fund Board of Governors

House Health and Human Services David Long, Committee Assistant–785-296-7488 1:30 p.m. 112-N

Monday, February 6 Request for bill introductions Hearing on: ~~HB2259 — Providing that certain mental health medications be available without prior authorization to treat medicaid recipients and abolishing the mental health medication advisory committee.~~ HB2260 — Increasing the number of medical student loan agreements that may be provided by the university of Kansas school of medicine and prohibiting impediments to switching between residency programs. HB2262 — Allowing six months of an embalmer apprenticeship to be completed prior to an individual attending mortuary science school HB2263 — Authorizing pharmacy technicians to administer certain vaccines.

Tuesday, February 7 Hearing on: HB2264 — Enacting the no patient left alone act to allow in-person visitation to certain patients at hospitals, adult care homes and hospice facilities.

Wednesday, February 8 Hearing on: HB2049 — Changing the length of the nurse aide course required for unlicensed employees in adult care homes to 75 hours.

Thursday, February 9 Informational briefing: HB2050 — Updating income eligibility requirements for the state children's health insurance program.

Child Welfare and Foster Care Carol Robertson, Committee Assistant–785-296-7644 1:30 p.m. 152-S

Monday, February 6 Request for bill introductions Hearing on: HB2240 — Requiring the clerk of the district court to give notice of qualified residential treatment program placement. HB2153 — Authorizing the attorney general to coordinate training regarding a multidisciplinary team approach to intervention in reports involving alleged human trafficking for law enforcement agencies and requiring training on human trafficking awareness and identification for certain child welfare agencies, juvenile justice agencies, mental health professionals and school personnel.

House Welfare Reform Gary Deeter, Committee Assistant–785-296-6989 1:30 p.m. 152-S Tuesday, February 7 Hearing on: HB2140 — Increasing the age range of able-bodied adults without dependents required to complete an employment and training program to receive food assistance.

House Education Deborah Bremer, Committee Assistant–785-296-3113 1:30 p.m. 218-N

Tuesday, February 7 Hearing on: HB2132 — Expanding the eligible fields of study and establishing a maximum scholarship amount for certain private postsecondary educational institutions in the Kansas promise scholarship act

Corrections and Juvenile Justice Colette Niehues, Committee Assistant–785-296-7500 1:30 p.m. 546-S

Monday, February 6 Request for bill introductions Hearing on: HB2214 — Changing the name of the Larned correctional mental health facility to the Larned state correctional facility and removing references to facilities that no longer exist. Final action on: HB2114 — Renaming the joint committee on corrections and juvenile justice oversight in honor of Representative J. Russell (Russ) Jennings and requiring the committee to monitor the implementation of juvenile justice reforms.

Tuesday, February 7 Final action on: HB2113 — Prohibiting denial of a petition for expungement due to the petitioner's inability to pay outstanding costs, fees, fines or restitution, providing that the waiting period for expungement starts on the date of conviction or adjudication and authorizing expungement of a juvenile adjudication if the juvenile has not committed a felony offense in the previous two years. HB2214 — Changing the name of the Larned correctional mental health facility to the Larned state correctional facility and removing references to facilities that no longer exist.

Wednesday, February 8 Final action on: HB2021 — Allowing evidence-based program account money to be used on certain children, requiring the department of corrections to build data systems and allowing for overall case length limit extensions for certain juvenile offenders.

House Judiciary Kathi Rakestraw, Committee Assistant–785-296-5805 3:30 p.m. 582-N

Thursday, February 9 Hearing on: HB2246 — Establishing requirements for the involuntary discharge or transfer of a resident in an adult residential care facility, the right to appeal such discharge or transfer and a process for such appeal.

2023 Mental Health Advocacy Day is March 7 2023

Amy Campbell — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 17:29:18 GMT

Governors Signs Mental Health Intervention Hotline Legislation: What They're Saying

Amy Campbell — Fri, 03 Jun 2022 17:35:22 GMT

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly signed bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill 19, creating the state’s suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline and behavioral health intervention teams. The 9-8-8 hotline will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Kansans needing mental health emergency services. The hotline will launch July 16, 2022.

More information about SB 19 can be found here.

Here’s what they’re saying:

“The Kansas Mental Health Coalition is celebrating the passage of 988 Behavioral Health Crisis legislation today! This is a crucial element of modernizing the Kansas Behavioral Health Continuum, providing meaningful suicide prevention and crisis assistance to Kansas families by assuring their calls are answered in Kansas by trained staff and covering some initial crisis interventions.”
– Amy Campbell, Kansas Mental Health Coalition

“9-8-8 will provide unprecedented access and timely responses to individuals in a mental health crisis. The passage and signing of this legislation marks the culmination of work done by mental health advocates including legislators and state officials that will help thousands of Kansans in a short amount of time.”
– Kyle Kessler, Executive Director, Association of Community Mental Health Centers

“The 9-8-8 number is part of a multi-agency effort that I have worked on with a bipartisan group of legislators and stakeholders for many years to improve access to mental health services. This new number is a tool that will help Kansans get in touch with the right people and resources as we continue to make Kansas’ mental health system the best in the country.”
– Representative Brenda Landwehr, Chair of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the 2021 Special Committee on Kansas Mental Health Modernization and Reform.

“SB 19 is just the beginning. The Kansas Legislature has been looking at the issue of mental health services in depth with the Mental Health Modernization Task Force and 9-8-8 not only helps to provide timely support and access but it frees 9-1-1 to do quick emergency work. This is a lifesaving tool for Kansans.”
– Senator Pat Pettey, Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Public Health & Welfare Committee and a Member of the 2020 Special Committee on Kansas Mental Health Modernization and Reform

“Kansas hospitals know firsthand the importance of being able to access critically needed services for individuals facing mental health crisis. At a time when Kansas hospitals have seen the serious impacts of suicide in communities across our state, we applaud Kansas policymakers for funding and implementing the 9-8-8 suicide prevention hotline to help provide additional mental health crisis services to those in need.”
– Tara Mays, Kansas Hospital Association

“The passing and signing of SB 19 sets in motion the support system needed in our state for people in need, especially our youth, so they can weather some of the tough times in life and get the comprehensive help they need to set a healthy life course. I commend my legislative colleagues, state staff, mental health professionals and the Governor for putting the health and safety of all Kansans as a top priority.”
– Senator Tom Hawk, Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Ways & Means Committee and Member of the 2021 Special Committee on Kansas Mental Health Modernization and Reform

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Contact:    
Cassie Nichols
cassie.nichols@ks.gov

Governor Laura Kelly Signs Legislation Creating a Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline

Amy Campbell — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 15:39:14 GMT

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly today signed Senate Bill 19, bipartisan legislation that creates the state’s suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline and behavioral health intervention teams. Kansans will soon be able to call 9-8-8 to receive support during a mental health emergency.

“The creation of the 9-8-8 suicide prevention hotline will provide Kansans immediate access to qualified mental health care providers during moments of crisis,” Governor Kelly said. “There’s no doubt, having mobile crisis teams just a phone call away will save lives.”

The 9-8-8 hotline will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will be within the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Centers network.

"Better access to crisis support services for Kansans with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) will help to address some of the system problems we have endured in our state for a long time,” Nick Wood, Associate Director of InterHab, said. “Behavioral health crises among IDD populations only represent a small fraction of overall psychiatric and substance use emergencies, but they’re often high impact and can seriouslydisrupt a person's life. When a crisis situation occurs, bringing in a professional who understands IDD conditions such as autism and how it’s manifesting can help avoid a fatal or traumatizing interaction."

The mobile crisis teams are created through partnerships between behavioral health professionals and others who provide professional, community-based crisis intervention services, which include de-escalation and stabilization for Kansans experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

“The recent passage of SB 19 – the 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline Infrastructure bill – is monumental for the state of Kansas and the mental health community, allowing for our crisis call centers to be able to better provide for Kansans across the state,” Ryan Reza, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Kansas, said. “The 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline will change how organizations like NAMI Kansas operate in Kansas, creating new pathways for mental health stakeholders to help Kansans in need.”

Governor Kelly also signed House Bill 2540, which updates the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

“Updates to the Kansas Controlled Substances Act are vital to ensure the health and safety of the public by ensuring that new drugs are properly safeguarded and available to Kansas patients,” Alexandra Blasi, Executive Secretary of the Kansas Board of Pharmacy, said. “In addition, dangerous illicit substances known to cause harm are placed in schedule I to ensure law enforcement can hold people accountable that traffic these substances. Changes are proposed annuallyas a joint recommendation of the Kansas Board of Pharmacy and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. One key element of this legislation is the advance scheduling of any FDA-approved drug containing THC or other cannabinoids. There are a number of products currently in clinical trials anticipated to be submitted for FDA-approval in the coming months and years. Now Kansas will be among the first to allow these drugs to be lawfully prescribed in our state if and when the FDA deems them safe and effective.”

###

Contact:    
Cassie Nichols
cassie.nichols@ks.gov

Senate approves 988 Legislation

Amy Campbell — Mon, 23 May 2022 18:30:18 GMT

The Kansas Mental Health Coalition is celebrating the passage of 988 Behavioral Health Crisis legislation today! This is a crucial element of modernizing the Kansas Behavioral Health Continuum, providing meaningful suicide prevention and crisis assistance to Kansas families by assuring their calls are answered in Kansas by trained staff and covering some initial crisis interventions. We look forward to the Governor signing Sub for SB 19 and appreciate KDADS leadership seeing this through.

The $10 m included in Sub for SB 19 is around 60% of the revenue forecast by the original 50 cent phone fees recommended by the federal act. However, the Legislature opted to provide state general funds, which will fund training and staffing for the three 988 contact centers in Kansas, (ComCare, Johnson County Mental Health Center, and Kansas Suicide Prevention Headquarters) and a statewide backup center with HealthSource Integrated Solutions, provide state level coordination, oversight and tracking, and some immediate crisis interventions (in the first 36 hours for Kansas citizens). This evidence-based intervention will save lives and reduce the overutilization of more expensive, less effective resources.

988 legislation builds on previous reform measures recommended by the Legislative Mental Health Modernization and Reform Committee and recently passed by the Legislature: adding mobile crisis response (2021), certified community behavioral health centers (2021), and funding crisis intervention centers (2022 mega-budget) and improving behavioral health medicaid reimbursement rates (2022 mega-budget).

The 988 crisis hotline adds the effective front door to bypass traditional barriers to care caused by service silos, addressing the needs of the majority of callers through trained on the phone consulting, warm handoffs and follow-up to appropriate community based services.

The strategic plan calls for improving the in-state answer rate to 90% this summer - from 60% in 2019 to 72% in 2020 and 80% in 2021. This assures a higher suicide prevention success rate and more eficient use of funds with coordinated handoffs to community-based services.

988 Crisis Hotline Legislation on Hold

Amy Campbell — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 00:23:06 GMT

The Kansas Legislature left Topeka for First Adjournment without passing the 988 Crisis Hotline Legislation. House Substitute for SB 19 - the LIVES Act - is now in the hands of a six member conference committee on health care legislation. It must be passed by the end of the Veto Session that begins April 25 in order to become law.

The House of Representatives passed the bill March 21 on a vote of 114-8. Unfortunately, regular committees in the Senate were no longer meeting, as the Legislature entered full time floor debates to move as much legislation as possible prior to the Drop Dead Day April 1. The House had worked on the bill for nearly two years, while only senators on Ways and Means, Kancare Oversight and Mental Health Modernization and Reform had received reports on the legislation. It is not unusual for one chamber to insert legislation into a bill from the other chamber in order to expedite the process, but 988 is significant legislation and advocates feared the Senate might balk. The stalemate lasted more than a week.

Finally, on Friday, April 1, the conference committee on House Sub for SB 19 met and came to a tentative agreement regarding amendments to the bill. The conferees agreed to add language to clarify crisis and short-term services to be covered for uninsured Kansans, restrict services to out-of-state persons, and reduce the number of people on the 988 Advisory Council. The Supplemental Note provides details of the legislation and action by the House Health and Human Services Committee and the House Energy, Utilities and Environment Committee. The Supplemental Note does not include amendments proposed by the conference committee.

Background: he National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 (S. 2661) creates 988, a 3-digit mental health crisis line. 988 will be a crucial tool to link people with trained staff who can provide on-the-phone assistance or refer to crisis response, reducing the burden on local law enforcement, emergency rooms, jails and state hospitals. However, the federal legislation is not funded – recommending a state-enacted fee on phone services.

The phone fee has been a major hang-up for HB 2281. Ultimately, the bill was passed by the House Health and Human Services Committee after a lot of negotiation with phone companies to reduce the monthly phone fee from 50 cents to 20 cents. Then, the bill was referred to the House Energy Utilities and Environment Committee, where the fee was pulled out, recommending funding from the state general fund and moving it into House Substitute for SB 19. The legislation must still pass the full House of Representatives before it can be addressed by the Senate.

Converting and expanding our current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to a fully functional front door to behavioral health crisis response in Kansas resolves a glaring gap in the continuum of care. Families need somewhere to call when a crisis occurs for themselves or their loved ones – a link to a live voice to deescalate the situation or link to appropriate interventions and resources.

KDADS has fulfilled the federal planning requirements and phone services will start directing 988 calls July 16, 2022. The Legislature must act to assure the hotline is operational and the necessary trained response services are in place with funding.

988 Crisis Hotline Legislation Moves Slowly

Amy Campbell — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 20:55:32 GMT

The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 (S. 2661) creates 988, a 3-digit mental health crisis line. 988 will be a crucial tool to link people with trained staff who can provide on-the-phone assistance or refer to crisis response, reducing the burden on local law enforcement, emergency rooms, jails and state hospitals. However, the federal legislation is not funded – recommending a state-enacted fee on phone services.

988 Crisis Hotline and KDADS / DCF Budget Hearings Next Week

Amy Campbell — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 22:30:27 GMT

Hearings Next Week

988 CRISIS LINE - House Bill 2281 - Hearing for HB 2281 in House Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday, February 15. To submit written testimony or to speak before the committee, contact Ryan Reza, NAMI Kansas, at this link to provide your information by Sunday February 13. We will have to turn in testimony by 10:00 a.m. Monday.

You can also reach out to the House Health and Human Services Committee members directly by email to express your support for HB 2281. Link to Committee List A short email with Support 998 Crisis Legislation in the subject line is very helpful! Sample Email.

BUDGET HEARINGS: KMHC supports the behavioral health enhancements in the Governor’s Budget. Other top issues include advocating for continued support for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Center system, creating community Crisis Intervention Centers, funding 988, and ending the moratorium on voluntary admissions at the state hospitals – expanding access to community based services and Medicaid Expansion. The following committees hear public testimony then make recommendations to the House Appropriations Committee or Senate Ways and Means Committee to develop the overall budget.

To submit written testimony or to speak before the committee, contact the committee assistant at least 48 hours before the hearing and expect to turn in your testimony 24 hours before the hearing. Some committees require only an electronic copy of your testimony, others will ask you to deliver paper copies too. Remember, if you can't get testimony submitted, you can email the committee members directly.

When testifying for agency budgets, it is important to review the Governors Budget Report to see what is recommended for the agencies. See Governors Budget Report and Directors Budget Presentation. See page 20 of the directors presentation for behavioral health (see below), also page 22 for Medicaid Expansion.

________________________________

House Social Services Budget Committee web page link with members – HSSBC - meets daily at 3:30 p.m. 152-S – Contact Francisca.Hernandez@house.ks.gov or at 785-296-7660. The committee assistant needs to know if you will testify in person or by Webex 48 hours before the hearing. Email a pdf of your testimony by 1:00 p.m. the day before the hearing.

Dept. of Children and Families - Budget Overview February 14, Public Hearing February 15, Recommendations February 16

Kansas Dept. for Aging and Disability Services - Budget Overview February 16, Public Hearing February 17, Recommendations February 21

__________________________________

Senate Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services – time and location vary - web page link with members

Contact Donna.Fulkerson@senate.ks.gov or 785-296-7399. The committee assistance needs to know if you will testify in person or by Webex 48 hours before the hearing. Email a pdf of the testimony 24 hours before the hearing.

Dept. for Children and Families - Overview and Public Testimony February 17. 12 noon Room 548-S

Kansas Dept. for Aging and Disability Services - Overview and Public Testimony February 18. 10:30 a.m. Room 548-S

____________________________________________________________

All hearings are live-streamed on the YouTube Kansas Legislature Channel.

Budget Hearings Schedule

Amy Campbell — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 15:33:40 GMT

This is a busy time for behavioral health!

________________________________

Larned State Hospital and Osawatomie State Hospital Budget Overview February 10, Public Hearing - February 10, Recommendations February 21

KDHE/Medicaid/Public Health – Overview February 7, Hearing February 8, Recommendations February 9

Dept. of Children and Families - Budget Overview February 14, Public Hearing February 15, Recommendations February 16

KDADS Budget Overview February 16, Public Hearing February 17, Recommendations February 21

__________________________________

Senate Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services – time and location vary - web page link with members

Larned State Hospital and Osawatomie State Hospital – Public Hearing Wednesday February 9 - 12 noon Room 548-S. Deliberations Thursday February 10 - 10:30 a.m. Room 548-S.

KDADS and DCF – beginning February 16 or 17. TBA.

2022 Mental Health Advocacy Day

Amy Campbell — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 14:19:57 GMT

How to Stream Legislative Meetings

Amy Campbell — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 15:28:40 GMT

Members of the public can stream audio and some video from www.kslegislature.org. Click “Audio/Video” in the upper right corner of the site. Select “Statehouse Live and Archive” or “House, Senate and Committee Video”. Meetings are available to listen or view later as well. Sometimes one of these options works better than the other. There are also times when there doesn’t seem to be any audio at all – a hitch that is due to committee room equipment. The 2021 Legislature did appropriate funds to improve statehouse technology equipment, so we hope these functions will be more reliable this session.

2022 Legislature Begins - Governors State of the State Proposes End to Food Sales Tax

Amy Campbell — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 15:27:07 GMT

The Kansas Legislature will host a joint meeting of the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means Committees today at 10:00 a.m. to hear the Governor’s Budget Report and review current state budget numbers. Listen to the committee at http://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00287/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20220112/-1/13872 or view at the Kansas Legislature channel on YouTube. The 2022 Legislative Session opened Monday afternoon and featured the Governor’s State of the State speech last night, along with a State of the Judiciary presentation by Chief Justice Marla Luckert yesterday afternoon. The Governor is proposing the elimination of the food sales tax and an income tax refund to all Kansas taxpayers of $250 per individual. Kelly says the Kansas economy is strong – with revenue estimates consistently increasing.

Budget estimates predict the highest ending balance the state has ever seen, mostly due to several rounds of federal pandemic relief funding and increased federal match for Medicaid, and Kelly is arguing that Kansans should benefit directly. At this point, Republican leaders are arguing that the federal aid will end and create a revenue cliff – so, a graduated approach may be better. There was also talk about reducing the sales tax rate for other kinds of purchases beyond groceries and using surplus funds to pay down KPERS debt. They do not support sending tax refunds to every Kansan – a proposal that they say is all about the Governor’s re-election campaign.

Governor Kelly used her State of the State speech to promote her priorities and to criticize the Legislature’s refusal to pass Medicaid Expansion.

Omnibus Budget Bill Includes Startup Funding for CCBHCs and 988 and Raises Protected Income Level

Amy Campbell — Tue, 11 May 2021 14:00:38 GMT

Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services items included in CCR SB 159:

○ Adding $2.7 million, including $1.2 million SGF, for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) funding, and 10.0 FTE positions for CCBHC certification for FY 2022;

○ Adding $5.6 million, including $2.0 million SGF, for the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Technology Assisted (TA) waiver for FY 2022;

○ Adding $3.0 million, all SGF, for costs associated with the 988 Crisis Hotline, and adding language to lapse SGF funds associated with the 988 Crisis Hotline implementation, if federal funds are available for this purpose in FY 2022; and

○ Adding $9.6 million, including $4.3 million SGF, and adding language raising the Protected Income Level for HCBS Waivers and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) from 150.0 percent to 300.0 percent of federal supplemental security income for FY 2022.

Veto Session Almost Over - Omnibus Budget Bill Passed

Amy Campbell — Sat, 08 May 2021 06:32:27 GMT

Veto Session Almost Over

The Legislature is grinding its way toward adjourning the veto session in the wee hours of Saturday morning. However, the omnibus budget was approved earlier this evening with the House passing CCR SB 159 98-21 and the Senate voting 26-12. The debate on the budget legislation was remarkably brief, considering that the House and Senate crafted their negotiating positions through committee action alone – bypassing the process of passing bills through the full chambers prior to conference committee. The Ways and Means / Appropriations conference committee hit the ground running at 9 am Thursday morning, meeting 9 times until reaching an agreement around 11:15 p.m. Legislative staff worked most of the night to have the conference committee report ready for final chamber votes today.

Highlights of the Omnibus Budget Full summary link

Human Services - Adding $31.1 million, including $20.6 million SGF, for the Human Services function and adopting GBA No. 3, Item 1, to delete $268.8 million, including $141.6 million SGF, to implement the Spring 2021 Consensus Caseloads. Other Major Adjustments include:

● Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services:

○ Adding $2.7 million, including $1.2 million SGF, for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) funding, and 10.0 FTE positions for CCBHC certification for FY 2022;

○ Adding $5.6 million, including $2.0 million SGF, for the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Technology Assisted (TA) waiver for FY 2022;

○ Adding $3.0 million, all SGF, for costs associated with the 988 Crisis Hotline, and adding language to lapse SGF funds associated with the 988 Crisis Hotline implementation, if federal funds are available for this purpose in FY 2022; and

○ Adding $9.6 million, including $4.3 million SGF, and adding language raising the Protected Income Level for HCBS Waivers and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) from 150.0 percent to 300.0 percent of federal supplemental security income for FY 2022.

● Department of Labor - Adding $9.6 million, all SGF, to update the unemployment insurance benefit system and adding language requiring the agency use up to $250,000 to conduct an outside audit in compliance with Senate Sub. for Sub. For HB 2196 for FY 2022. This includes language requiring the use of federal funds if determined allowable;

Key to the final agreement was adding $53 million to higher education appropriations in order to meet enough of the federal “maintenance of effort” requirements to assure Kansas’ eligibility for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

State employees did not get the 2.5% pay increase recommended by the House, but there are salary increases for the Judiciary branch that many say are long overdue.

There were a number of last minute provisos added to the bill relating to topics like limiting contact tracing for purposes of individual privacy and prohibiting vaccine passports, the impacts of which will be unknown for now.

There were also a couple of items added into the omnibus budget that had been line item vetoed by the Governor – including an agreed to change in the way that federal coronavirus aid is approved for State expenditures.

These budget items are in addition to those passed in the mega-budget bill – Sub for HB 2007 prior to first adjournment the first week of April.

The Legislature is still debating a couple of conference committees, but likely to adjourn in an hour or two.

Status of the State General Fund

The HB 2007 approved budget resulted in an ending balance of $648.5 million in FY 2021 and $10.2 million in FY 2022. Change in economic conditions and federal stimulus have substantially changed that outlook in addition to legislative adjustments.

Major Adjustments include:

● Revised consensus revenue estimates adding $319.8 million in FY 2021 and $41.2 million in FY 2022;

● The passage of SB 50, SB 47, and HB 2143 reducing estimated revenue by $108.5 million in FY 2022;

● Spring Human Services Caseloads reducing SGF expenditures by $189.5 million in FY 2021 and $141.6 million in FY 2022; and

● SB 159 adding $4.4 million in FY 2021 and $70.5 million for FY 2022 in expenditures above the Governor's recommendation as adjusted for GBA No. 3 and No. 4. The effect of these various adjustments results in a projected ending balance of $1.1 billion in FY 2021 and $542.1 million in FY 2022.

Governor Laura Kelly Signs Budget Bill

Amy Campbell — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 23:33:53 GMT

Sub for HB 2007 - the mega-budget bill for the 2021 session - was passed by the Legislature prior to First Adjournment and the Governor signed it with some line item vetoes on Monday, April 26. Attached is a spreadsheet of the negotiated items from the conference committee on HB 2007.Senate Ways and Means returned Monday to review the new consensus revenue and expenditure estimates, and began to craft their Omnibus bill over a day and a half. House Appropriations worked through its 49 page omnibus list in about 9 hours on Tuesday. Here is the list of omnibus items being considered by the budget committees. Two of the key items for the Coalition are the first year funding for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers program and startup funds for a 988 crisis system. The 988 crisis line will be live July 2022 according to the federal legislation. Will Kansas be ready?

Governor Laura Kelly Recommends New Behavioral Health Funding

Amy Campbell — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:25:21 GMT

The Governor’s State of the State speech was delivered remotely on January 12, due to the pandemic and the proposed budget was presented to a joint meeting of the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means Committee on the morning of January 13. The Budget proposes two merge KDADS and DCF into a single Department of Human Services and includes new spending.

Department of Human Services Enhancements

$2.0mil for CMHC specialized services in Nursing Facilities for Mental Health
$5.0mil for statewide mobile response & stabilization
Provides community-based interventions and individualized care planning
$3.0mil for family crisis response and support
Provides any child/youth up to 18 in the community, or any young adult (ages 18 – 21) who is a foster care alum who is experiencing behavioral or psychiatric emergency with rapid, community-based crisis intervention services, regardless of health care insurance status
Department of Corrections Lansing facility
Substance abuse program implementation

The Governor cites two key principles for her budget:

1. Respond to the needs highlighted by the pandemic and protect core services, while keeping Kansas on the path of fiscal responsibility and economic growth

• The FY22 Governor’s recommended budget will show investments in IT modernization, transportation, public safety, mental health services, education, and economic development tools

2. Continue building on the work that has been done over the past few years to keep putting tools back into the budget toolbox

• By remaining steadfast in the commitment to restore stability to the state’s finances over the past couple of years, we have been able to weather the financial uncertainty that the pandemic has brought to date

Links to the Governors Budget information:

Budget Overview GBR Volume 1 GBR Volume 2

A Tough Year

It is worth noting that the Governor has prepared her budget recommendations based on forecasts for reduced revenues due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Every agency was asked to submit their agency budget with 10% reductions – then, the Governor and her team worked to reinstate portions or all of the 10% cuts for various agencies. Then, limited enhancements were added.

So, it is very encouraging that Governor Kelly prioritized behavioral health needs for Kansans. Now, the legislative process will take her budget proposal and dissect it, adding and removing funding items according to the priorities of legislators. We are hopeful that the work of the Mental Health Modernization and Reform Committee over the interim will help to keep behavioral health top of mind for legislators in the next few weeks and months.

2021 Legislative Session Unusual Due to Coronavirus – Meetings Provide Online Access – Some Issues Get a Quick Start

Amy Campbell — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 15:04:09 GMT

The 2021 Legislative Session will be very unusual, with efforts to spread out in committee rooms and into the public galleries of the House chamber and limit physical access to members of the public and the press. Masks are encouraged – seemingly more in the House than the Senate – and temperatures are checked as people enter the building.

The first calendars indicate a quick start to legislative action, with the Judiciary and Tax committees already scheduled to hear bills addressing government actions relating to COVID-19 and tax legislation left hanging from the 2020 session. Some are saying that regardless of the safety efforts, leaders are anxious to get several pieces of legislation passed quickly – before illness and quarantines may keep legislators out of the building and getting the right number of votes could become a challenge. A constitutional amendment regarding abortion is expected along with possible liability protections for nursing homes.

Calendars are posted each day at https://kslegislature.org – select the third tab from the right on the blue banner. Committee meeting audio can be streamed live by selecting Audio/Video from the top edge of the home screen, click on Statehouse Live and Archive from the dropdown list. There are larger audio/video links for streaming the full House or Senate sessions mid-page on the right margin.

Full House and Senate sessions with action are to be limited this session – requiring fewer gatherings of the legislators within the House and Senate chambers. There is a plan to bring representatives into the chamber in groups when votes are required. The calendars will indicate when House or Senate deliberations are to occur. Action on bills by the full House or Senate is indicated in the calendars by a line showing up under a list of bills to be debated under General Orders.

Many interim meetings have streamed live on YouTube – subscribe to the Kansas Legislature channel. So far, it does not appear all the legislative committees will be appearing there, although the House and Senate sessions were available. However, individuals who sign up to testify in committees will be provided a link to participate with audio and video.

The first day has been a little rocky – not all the links have worked well. This means that those of us who are tracking the activities of the Legislature closely will have extra work to do.

2021 Legislature - Leaders Elected

Amy Campbell — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 22:12:16 GMT

Monday, February 11, Kansas legislators gathered in the State Capitol to begin the work of the 2021 Kansas Legislative Session. Leadership elections were formalized – making history, as Representative Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, is the first representative to win a third term as Speaker of the House and Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, is the first female elected to be the Senate Minority Leader. There were speeches and welcomes all around.

The leaders are as follows:

SENATE:

President - Ty Masterson, R-Andover

Vice President - Richard Wilborn, R-McPherson

Majority Leader - Gene Suellentrop, R-Wichita

Assistant Majority Leader – Larry Alley, R-Winfield

Majority Whip – Richard Hilderbrand, R-Galena

Minority Leader - Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa

Assistant Minority Leader - Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita

Minority Whip – Pat Pettey, D-Kansas City

Minority Agenda Chair - Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence

Minority Caucus Chair – Jeff Pittman, D-Leavenworth

HOUSE

Speaker – Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe

Speaker Pro Tem – Blaine Finch, R-Ottawa

Majority Leader – Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita

Assistant Majority Leader – Les Mason, R-McPherson

Majority Whip – Blake Carpenter, R-Derby

Majority Caucus Chair – Ken Rahjes, R-Agra

Minority Leader – Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita

Assistant Minority Leader – Jason Probst, D-Hutchinson

Minority Whip – Stephanie Clayton, R-Overland Park

Minority Caucus Chair – Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence

Minority Agenda Chair – Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa

Minority Policy Chair – Rui Xu, D-Westwood

For more information about these legislators, check out http://kslegislature.org

2021 KMHC Meeting Schedule

Amy Campbell — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 21:48:29 GMT

The Coalition will continue to meet by teleconference. Members are urged to update their membership by logging into the website.

January 27, February 24, March 24, April 28, May 26, June 23, July 28, August 25, September 22, October 27, November 17, December 15

Mental Health Advocacy Day - February 17 - Virtual Event

Board Meetings: 12 noon quarterly the 4^th Wednesdays (March 24, June 23, Sept. 22, Dec. 15)

How to Stream Audio from Kansas Legislative Committee Meetings

Amy Campbell — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:37:32 GMT

Members of the public can listen to public hearings online by going to http://kslegislature.org, select the Audio/Video option at the top right of your screen, select “Statehouse Live and Archive” from the dropdown menu, then scroll through the committees until you find the one you want. Note there is a box on the home page for Audio/Video Broadcast of the House and Senate chamber, but you will need to find Audio/Video at the top right of the screen instead.

State Hospitals Budget Hearings Begin

Amy Campbell — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:31:55 GMT

The Kansas Legislature begins the process of budget hearings this week, with both the House and Senate subcommittees for Osawatomie and Larned State Hospitals beginning hearings today.

Senate Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Services hearing - Room 548-S – 12 noon

House Social Services Budget Committee hearing – Room 144-S – 3:30 p.m.

State Hospitals documents: KMHC Testimony HSSBC (same as Senate), Osawatomie State Hospital Budget Analysis Report, Larned State Hospital Budget Analysis Report.

Bill Would Allow Pharmacists to Administer Injections

Amy Campbell — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 18:23:09 GMT

Supporters of HB 2082 told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee that allowing pharmacists to administer injections could improve access to care for people with serious mental illness and those with other chronic conditions who have been prescribed injections. According to Kristen Powell, Genoa Healthcare, Family Service and Guidance Center, many people are uncomfortable with self administration of injections. She suggested HB 2082 would help patients stay on their medications by making it more convenient for them to receive them. Many of our patients are on public assistance and this would allow greater convenience and avoid the cost of additional visits to physician’s offices or hospitals for administration of their injectable medications. Jim Backes, Pharm.D., University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, testified that Injection administration is a standard part of training. He asserted that pharmacists are fully trained and well equipped to administer medications. The legislation is proposed by the Kansas Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. Read the notes from the hearing. Read the notes from the hearing here.

2019 Mental Health Task Force Report Reviewed by Legislative Committees

Amy Campbell — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 18:26:05 GMT

The Task Force Report has been reviewed by a number of legislative committees in the opening weeks of the session. The Task Force was created by the Kansas Legislature in 2017 and 2018. The 2018 budget proviso directs the Task Force to create a strategic plan that addresses the recommendations of the 2018 Mental Health Task Force Report and also to ascertain the total number of psychiatric beds needed in Kansas to most effectively deliver mental health services and the location where such services would be best provided. The Report includes the results of a statewide bed study commissioned by the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services that asserts Kansas needs up to 221 additional inpatient beds to serve its population. The Report recommends adding 36 to 60 inpatient beds to the system in the next 24 months in order to end the moratorium on admissions at Osawatomie State Hospital, along with investments in the current state hospitals to provide quality treatment and stabilize staffing. Task Force members envisioned beds that could be available regionally and in underserved areas.

The 2019 Report includes a strategic plan detailing 23 recommendations that build on the 2018 Report – including action steps, timing considerations, implementation timeline, budget estimates, and the agencies and organizations likely to be responsible for implementation.

Several members of the Task Force are members of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition. Amy Campbell, KMHC Lobbyist, was asked to help present an overview of the report to several legislative committees, including Senate Ways and Means, Senate Public Health and Welfare, and the House Social Services Budget Committee. Read the Mental Health Task Force Overview, Kansas Health Institute overview of the process 2019 Mental Health Task Force Report

Primary Election Results Delayed Overnight by Johnson County, Many Close Races

Amy Campbell — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 15:15:00 GMT

Delays in tabulating the votes in Johnson County forced election watchers to wait until 8 a.m. today to get the unofficial results of the Republican primary race for Governor. Results are still unofficial, with recent mail-in ballots, provisional ballots, and some hand counted ballots not yet included.

Does your vote count? Take note of incumbent State Representative Steve Becker of Buhler who appears to have lost his seat by one vote.

The posted results show Secretary of State Kris Kobach winning the primary by a very narrow margin of 191 votes out of 311,009 recorded votes. Although the election has been called, Governor Colyer is not yet conceding the race, releasing a statement this morning saying that with, "the presence of thousands of as yet uncounted provisional ballots and the extraordinary problems with the count, particularly in Johnson County, this election remains too close to call."

Senator Laura Kelly won the Democrat primary with more than twice the votes of the closest challenger.

Republican Primary - Governor

R-Jim Barnett

27,449

R-Jeff Colyer

126,066

41%

R-Kris Kobach

126,257

41%

R-Patrick "PK" Kucera

3,123

R-Tyler Ruzich

2,217

R-Ken Selzer

24,356

R-Joseph Tutera Jr.

1,541

Democrat Primary - Governor

D-Arden Andersen

12,845

D-Jack Bergeson

3,850

D-Carl Brewer

30,693

20%

D-Laura Kelly

78,746

52%

D-Joshua Svaty

26,722

18%

Watkins wins Republican Primary for 2nd District US House of Representatives. Steve Watkins, a former Army Ranger and a newcomer to Kansas politics, has defeated three state senators, a state representative, and a former Speaker of the House to be the Republican candidate for the 2nd District Congressional seat retired by Rep. Lynn Jenkins. Watkins beat Senator Caryn Tyson with a hefty campaign account primarily funded by his father. Read the KC Star article here. Watkins will now face former Rep. Paul Davis (D-Lawrence) who ran for Governor in 2014.

R-Vernon J. Fields

1,950

R-Steve Fitzgerald

9,098

12%

R-Kevin Jones

12,033

16%

R-Doug Mays

6,135

R-Dennis Pyle

8,997

12%

R-Caryn Tyson

17,499

23%

R-Steve Watkins

19,753

26%

The incumbents won the other congressional primary races (Marshall, Yoder, Estes). KMHC member Nick Reinecker is to be congratulated for getting 17,139 votes in the 1st District Primary without major special interest financial backing!

There was a close Democrat primary to select the candidate to challenge Kevin Yoder in the general election, with Sharice Davids emerging as the winner. Davids is Native American, a mixed martial arts fighter and openly LGBT. Read article here. Democrats believe Yoder's seat could be vulnerable in the November election.

Democrat Primary for 2nd District Congress

D-Sharice Davids

22,891

37%

D-Mike McCamon

4,243

D-Tom Niermann

8,740

14%

D-Jay Sidie

1,748

D-Brent Welder

20,803

34%

D-Sylvia D. Williams

2,896

Insurance Commissioner:

R-Vicki Schmidt

148,936

52%

R-Clark Shultz

137,636

48%

Schmidt will run against Nathaniel MacLaughlin (D-Kansas City) in the general election.

Secretary of State:

R-Randy Duncan

56,214

20%

R-Keith Esau

27,810

10%

R-Craig McCullah

31,854

12%

R-Scott Schwab

106,569

38%

R-Dennis Taylor

55,672

20%

Schwab will face Brian "BAM" McClendon, a software designer, developer and engineer with connections to Google Earth and Uber, for the general election in November.

No More Campaigning: There are 16 statehouse races that had only a primary race – in other words, the winning candidate has no general election opposition filed for the seat. 12 of these are Republican races and 4 are Democrat.

District 6 – Incumbent Rep. Jene Vickrey (R-Louisburg) defeated challenger Clifford Blackmore (R-Paola). He won the vote 62% to 38%.

District 11 – Incumbent Rep. Jim Kelly (R-Independence) defeated challenger John Lowrance (R-Independence). He won the vote 76%-24%.

District 12 – Incumbent Rep Doug Blex (R-Independence) defeated challenger Brad Hall (R-Independence). He won the vote 69%-31%.

District 13 – Incumbent Rep. Larry Hibbard (R-Toronto) defeated challenger Londa Tindle (R-Fredonia). He won the vote 55%-45%.

District 22 – Incumbent Rep. Nancy Lusk (D-Overland Park) defeated challenger Michael L. Coleman III (D-Overland Park) with 89% of the vote.

District 46 – Incumbent Rep. Boog Highberger (D-Lawrence) defeated challenger Benjamin Ferlo (D-Lawrence). He won the vote 88%-12%.

District 55 – Incumbent Rep. Annie Kuether (D-Topeka) defeated challenger Joseph Stringer (D-Topeka) 88%-12%..

District 64 – Rep. Susan “Suzi” Carlson (R-Clay Center) beat Kathy Martin (R-Clay Center) 53%-47% to win the seat retired by Rep. Susie Swanson.

District 74 – Stephen Owens (R-Hesston) defeated six term incumbent Rep. Don Schroeder (R-Hesston) 55%-45%. Owens is considered more conservative with endorsements from the NRA and Kansas Chamber.

District 75 – Former Rep. Will Carpenter (R-El Dorado) will return to Topeka after winning the primary 60%-40% against one term incumbent Rep. Mary Martha Good. This was a rematch - Good beat Carpenter in the 2016 election by only 40 votes as a more moderate leaning candidate.

District 80 – Wellington businessman Bill Rhiley beat one term incumbent Rep. Anita Judd-Jenkins (R-Arkansas City) 58% to 42%. Rhiley had conservative endorsements.

District 87 – This seat is retired by Roger Elliot. Renee Erickson (R-Wichita) beat Jeff Kennedy (R-Wichita) 56%-44%.

District 89 – Rep. KC Ohaebosim (D-Wichita) held onto his seat against two Democrat challengers from Wichita – LeSean Tarkington and Marty Keenan.

District 104 – Rep. Steven Becker (R-Buhler) appears to have lost his seat by one vote to challenger Paul Waggoner (R-Hutchinson) 2,014-2,013. There will be a recount.

District 107 – Incumbent Rep. Susan Concannon (R-Beloit) beat challenger Sam Sacco (R-Concordia) 56%-44%.

District 124 – Martin “Marty” Long (R-Ulysses) won 64% of the vote over Jeffrey G. Locke (R-Sublette) to fill the seat retired by Rep. Steve Alford.

The Kansas House of Representatives may see a slight shift to the right. There are several House races where conservative Republican candidates unseated more moderate Republicans that won in 2016. In addition to the losses of Reps Schroeder, Good, Judd-Jenkins, and Becker -

District 8 – Rep. Patty Markley (R-Overland Park) lost to Chris Croft (R-Overland Park) 58%-42%. Croft will face Michele Lobitz (D-Olathe) in November.

District 28 – Rep. Joy Koesten (R-Leawood) lost to Kellie Warren (R-Leawood) 42%-58%, who received conservative endorsements. Warren will take on Brian Clausen (D-Leawood) in the general election.

On the other hand - conservative Republican John Whitmer was also unseated:

District 93 - Republican incumbent John Whitmer (R-Wichita) lost to challenger J.C. Moore (R-Clearwater) by 52 votes (1136-1084). Moore will run against Clifton Beck (D-Clearwater) in the general election. Moore is a retired educator with a doctorate in chemistry - he cites four priorities: fiscal responsibility, excellent schools, great roads and expansion of KanCare.

Other House Primary Results:

District 5 - Mark Samsel (R-Wellsville) beat Renee Slinkard (R-Parker) and will run against Lassey Murphy (D-Lane) in November to fill the House seat left behind by Kevin Jones, who ran for 2nd District Congress.

District 14 – Charlotte Esau (R-Olathe) won the House seat held by her husband Keith Esau as he seeks the Secretary of State’s office. She beat Aaron Young and Tom Stanion with 46% of the vote and will face Democrat Angela Schweller in the general election.

District 17 – Rep. Tom Cox (R-Shawnee) won his primary with 75% of the vote against Jim Eschrich. He will now face Democrat Laura Smith-Everett of Shawnee.

District 18 - Incumbent Rep. Cindy Neighbor (D-Shawnee) beat challenger Andrew Hurla with 82% of the vote, and now faces Republican primary winner Eric Jenkins, who beat Cathy Gordon.

District 27 – Rep. Sean Tarwater (R-Stilwell) won his primary with 46% of the vote against Karen Snyder and Rochelle Bird. Tarwater will face Democrat Nicole Rome of Overland Park in the general election.

District 29 - Former Rep. James Todd (R-Overland Park) beat Peggy Galvin to set up a rematch against current Rep. Brett Parker (D-Overland Park).

District 30 – Wendy Bingesser (R-Olathe) beat Colleen Webster by less than 200 votes. Bingesser is considered more conservative than Webster. She will face the winner of the Democrat primary for this seat, Brandon Woodard(D-Lenexa) who beat Matthew Calcara. This seat is left open by Rep. Randy Powell, who did not file for election.

District 38 - Incumbent Rep. Willie Dove (R-Bonner Springs) won over Noel Hull with 64% of the vote. He will face Democrat Stuart Sweeney of Linwood in November.

District 39 – Former Rep. Owen Donohoe (R-Shawnee) won by 203 votes (54%) over Kristy Acree with Rep. Shelee Brim is not running for reelection. Brim had endorsed Acree. Donohoe will now face Democrat Michael Bolton.

District 40 - Incumbent Debbie Deere (D-Lansing) beat Donald Terrien in the primary and will face Republican David French in the general election.

District 42 - Incumbent Jim Karleskint won his primary over Lance Neelly with 53% of the vote (less than 200 votes).

District 45 - Former lobbyist Cynthia Smith (R-Lawrence) won the primary against Ronald Thacker for the seat held for many years by retiring Rep. Tom Sloan. The Democrat primary was won by Mike Amyx over Steven Davis and Aidan Loveland Koster.

District 49 – House Speaker Pro Tem Scott Schwab is running for Secretary of State. Megan Lynn won 89% of the vote over Fsehazion Desalegn. Lynn has been endorsed by Schwab Lynn will now face Democrat Darnell Hunt.

District 59 - Incumbent Rep. Blaine Finch (R-Ottawa) beat former Rep. Shari Weber with 71% of the vote. He faces Democrat John Hall of Quenemo in the general election.

District 86 - Incumbent Rep. Jim Ward (D-Wichita) beat Alexander Vulgamore with 86% of the vote. He now faces Republican Jim Price of Wichita for the general election.

District 93 - Republican incumbent John Whitmer (R-Wichita) lost to challenger J.C. Moore (R-Clearwater. Moore will not run against Clifton Beck (D-Clearwater) in the general election.

District 97 - Nick Hoheisel (R-Wichita) beat Michael Waller by 108 votes to fill the seat left by retiring Rep. Les Osterman (R-Wichita). Hoheisel will face Rebecca Jenek (D-Wichita) in November.

District 99 - Kristi Kirk (D-Wichita) beat Gerald Winget in order to challenge incumbent Rep. Susan Humphries (R-Wichita) in November.

District 100 - Incumbent Rep. Daniel Hawkins (R-Wichita) beat challenger James Francis Breitenbach with 76% of the vote. Hawkins will face Democrat Jennifer Winn in the general election.

District 113 - Incumbent Rep. Greg Lewis won his primary over Brett Fairchild with 66% of the vote. The Democrat primary was won by David Curtis over David Serrault.

KMHC encourages you to be active in your local elections. Now is a great time to call and congratulate the winners. If you have questions,or notice any errors in our report, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. It was a late night waiting for results!

Vote Tomorrow - Primary Election Information

Amy Campbell — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 13:21:30 GMT

2018 Primary Election is Tuesday! This is a VERY IMPORTANT election - with many positions determined by the primary election. Check out your ballot today at myvoteinfo.voteks.org. Select the Registration Information tab, then enter your county, first and last name, and birthdate. It will pull up two ballots, one for the Democrat primary and one for the Republican primary. They are indicated by a three digit number. Call Amy at 785-969-1617 if you have any questions.

The Governor’s Race: The hotly contended primaries for the Governor’s office have attracted most of the attention and campaign funds for the 2018 Election thus far. Governor Jeff Colyer has touted the positive fiscal condition of the State government and his conservative principles, while Kobach claims he is the true conservative in the race, with the just announced backing of President Trump. These two seem to be the poll leaders and a recent commercial from the Colyer campaign urges voters to avoid casting their votes for any of the other candidates in this large field, claiming it would tilt the race to Kobach, who wants to return to the Brownback tax cuts. Republican primary voters do tend toward the conservative – which leaves an interesting quandary for more moderate Republicans. Do they vote for Barnett, who vows to support reasonable education funding and Medicaid expansion, or stick with Colyer, who has consistently supported most of Brownback’s policies? If they reject Colyer, are they assuring a Kobach primary win as the commercial claims?

The leaders in the Democrat primary are likely Senator Laura Kelly, former Ag Secretary Josh Svaty, and former Wichita mayor Carl Brewer. The candidates have mostly similar views. Kelly has strong name recognition as a long time legislator experienced with state budget issues and health care. Svaty attracts many younger more progressive Democrats and has strong rural ties. Brewer is well known and liked in south central Kansas, primarily Wichita.

The winners of these primaries will face off in November in a three way race with an Independent candidate – expected to be Greg Orman.

The Republican contenders are as follows:

Current Governor and former Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D. (R-Overland Park) with Lt. Governor candidate Tracy Mann

Current Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R-Lecompton) with Lt. Governor candidate Wink Hartman

Current Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer (R-Leawood) with Lt. Governor candidate Jenifer Sanderson

Former Senator Jim Barnett, M.D. (R-Topeka) with Lt Governor candidate Rosie Hansen (his wife)

Patrick “PK” Kucera (R-Overland Park) and Lt. Governor candidate Patricia Reitz

Tyler Ruzich (R-Prairie Village) with Lt. Governor candidate Dominic Scavuzzo

Joseph Tutera (R- Mission Hills) with Lt. Governor candidate Phillip Clemente

The Democrat candidates are as follows:

Senator Laura Kelly (D-Topeka) and Lt. Governor candidate Lynn Rogers (also a current senator)

Former State Secretary of Agriculture Josh Svaty (D-Ellsworth) and Lt. Governor candidate Katrina Gier Lewison

Former Wichita mayor Carl Brewer (D-Wichita) and Lt. Governor candidate Chris Morrow

Jack Bergeson (D-Wichita) and Lt. Governor candidate Alexander Cline

Arden Anderson (D-Olathe) and Lt. Governor candidate Dale Cowsert

Congressional Races: The races for the US House of Representatives have multiple candidates as well, with the District 2 race to fill the seat retired by Rep. Lynn Jenkins attracting the most attention. Candidates include three current state senators: Caryn Tyson (R-Parker), Steve Fitzgerald (R-Leavenworth) and Dennis Pyle (R-Hiawatha). Current state representative Kevin Jones (R-Wellsville) and former House Speaker Doug Mays (R-Topeka) are also in the race. Controversy has been raised by a relatively unknown candidate Steve Watkins (R-Topeka) who has become very visible with signs all over Topeka and plenty of purchased television commercials. Watkins appears to be very well funded by his father and his campaign attracted a lot of criticism when it accused Tyson of voting for tax increases. Tyson is the current Senate Taxation Committee Chair and is well known for her anti-tax position – her campaign has called for a retraction from Watkins. This field also include Vernon Fields (R-Basehor). The winner will face former Rep. Paul Davis (D-Lawrence) who ran for Governor in 2014.

The incumbents are expected to win the other congressional races, although some think Kevin Yoder (District 3) could have a tough general election. District 1 Roger Marshall (R-Great Bend) faces Nick Reinecker (R-Inman). District 4 Rep. Ron Estes (R-Wichita) faces Ron M. Estes (R-Wichita). Rep. Estes had to receive special permission to use his title as the incumbent Representative on the ballot to differentiate himself from the challenger.

This Is It: There are 15 statehouse races that have only a primary race – in other words, the candidate who wins on August 7 will be the winning Representative. There is no general election opposition filed for the seat. 12 of these are Republican races and 3 are Democrat.

District 6 – Rep. Jene Vickrey (R-Louisburg) faces challenger Clifford Blackmore (R-Paola). Vickrey is a former House Majority Leader with very conservative credentials.

District 11 – Rep. Jim Kelly (R-Independence) faces challenger John Lowrance (R-Independence).

District 12 – Rep. Doug Blex (R-Independence) faces challenger Brad Hall (R-Independence).

District 13 – Rep. Larry Hibbard (R-Toronto) faces challenger Londa Tindle (R-Fredonia).

District 22 – Rep. Nancy Lusk (D-Overland Park) faces challenger Michael L. Coleman III (D-Overland Park).

District 46 – Rep. Boog Highberger (D-Lawrence) faces challenger Benjamin Ferlo (D-Lawrence). Highberger is a former Lawrence mayor.

District 55 – Rep. Annie Kuether (D-Topeka) faces challenger Joseph Stringer (D-Topeka). Stringer has taken on Kuether a couple of times in years past, but as a Republican.

District 64 – Rep. Susan “Suzi” Swanson (R-Clay Center) faces challenger Kathy Martin (R-Clay Center).

District 74 – Rep. Don Schroeder (R-Hesston) faces challenger Stephen Owens (R-Hesston).

District 75 – Current Rep. Mary Martha Good (R-El Dorado) faces a challenger from former Rep. Will Carpenter (R-El Dorado). Good beat Carpenter in the 2016 election as a more moderate leaning candidate.

District 80 – Rep. Anita Judd-Jenkins (R-Arkansas City) faces challenger Bill Rhiley (R-Welllington)

District 87 – This seat is retired by Roger Elliot. Renee Erickson (R-Wichita) takes on Jeff Kennedy (R-Wichita).

District 89 – Rep. KC Ohaebosim (D-Wichita) faces two challengers from Wichita – LeSean Tarkington and Marty Keenan. Keenan has run for the Legislature several times in the past without success.

District 104 – Rep. Steven Becker (R-Buhler) faces challenger Paul Waggoner (R-Hutchinson).

District 107 – Rep. Susan Concannon (R-Beloit) faces challenger Sam Sacco (R-Concordia).

District 124 – Position was retired by Rep. Steve Alford. Jeffrey G. Locke (R-Sublette) faces Martin “Marty” Long (R-Ulysses).

There are several House races with conservative candidates attempting to unseat more moderate Republicans that won in 2016:

District 8 – Rep. Patty Markley faces Chris Croft

District 14 – Charlotte Esau is running for the House seat held by her husband Keith Esau as he seeks the Secretary of State’s office. Aaron Young and Tom Stanion are also seeking the position. Stanion seems to be the more moderate candidate.

District 17 – Rep. Tom Cox faces Jim Eschrich

District 27 – Rep. Sean Tarwater is a one term legislator who replaced House Speaker Merrick when he retired. His challengers include Karen Snyder, an education proponent, and Rochelle Bird, who calls herself an “authentic conservative”.

District 28 – Rep. Joy Koesten faces Kellie Warren, who has received conservative endorsements

District 30 – Rep. Randy Powell is retiring this position. Colleen Webster, with moderate credentials, is facing Wendy Bingesser, who is endorsed by conservative groups. There is also a Democrat primary for this seat with Matthew Calcara and Brandon Woodard running.

District 39 – Rep. Shelee Brim is nott running for reelection. She endorsed Kristy Acree who must face former conservative representative Owen Donohue.

District 49 – House Speaker Pro Tem Scott Schwab is running for Secretary of State. Megan Lynn is running for his seat against Fsehazion Desalegn. Lynn has been endorsed by Schwab.

If you have questions about the races on your ballot, do not hesitate to reach out to us. Contact Amy at 785-969-1617 or campbell525@sbcglobal.net.

Statewide Primary Election Next Tuesday

Amy Campbell — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 04:19:13 GMT

Folow your local candidates on Facebook and check out their websites to see what they stand for. Most local newspapers have published articles about local candidates that you can read. If you need help or want to know more about the candidates in your area, feel free to contact KMHC. We are happy to share information. Do you have information about a candidate that we should know about? Tell us!

Another Blow to Insurance Parity - Will You Send a Message?

Amy Campbell — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 20:06:00 GMT

On August 1, the Federal Administration dealt another blow to mental health parity by allowing for an expansion of certain health insurance plans that are not required to cover people with pre-existing conditions or provide coverage for mental health services.

These "short-term limited-duration" plans will now be allowed to cover people for up to 364 days, up from 3 months, and be renewed for up to three years.

However, even when short-term limited duration plans say they cover mental health care, they often have fine print that allows them to charge people with mental illness more or says they do not:

* Cover pre-existing conditions like mental illness;

* Cover a self-inflicted injury; or

* Provide essential health benefits, including mental health and substance use care.

These junk plans will leave many people without the coverage they need in a mental health crisis or if they develop a mental health condition. And, this rule will further destabilize the individual health insurance marketplace and threaten quality and affordable mental health coverage for Americans. For more information about short term policies, click here https://www.kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/understanding-short-term-limited-duration-health-insurance/.

PLEASE ACT – 1. Vote in next Tuesday’s primary election for candidates who support issues relating to mental health and substance use treatment. Have questions? Check out the KMHC website here http://kansasmentalhealthcoalition.onefireplace.com .

2. Today, tell the candidates for state insurance commissioner to protect people with mental health conditions Email the candidates at the following email addresses with the message below or use your own words:

Vicki Schmidt - vicki.schmidt@mac.com - website: www.vickischmidt.org

Clark Shultz - shultz@usa.com - website: www.clarkshultzforinsurancecommissioner.com

Nathaniel McLaughlin - nathanielmclaughlin@yahoo.com - www.facebook.com/ElectMcLaughlin/

Dear Candidate _____________________(insert the name),

I am writing today because, as a person whose life is affected by mental illness, I am deeply concerned about recent federal action allowing short-term limited-duration plans to be sold in our state. Even when short-term limited duration plans say they cover mental health care, they often have fine print that allows them to charge people with mental illness more or says they do not:

* Cover pre-existing conditions like mental illness;

* Cover a self-inflicted injury; or

* Provide essential health benefits, including mental health and substance use care.

These plans will leave many people without the coverage they need in a mental health crisis or if they develop a mental health condition. This rule will also further destabilize the individual health insurance marketplace and threaten quality and affordable mental health coverage for people in our state.

As a candidate for our state's insurance commissioner, I urge you to commit to limit the sale of these short-term plans, require informative disclosures to the public, support affordable policies that include essential health benefits and to protect people with mental health conditions.

Sincerely,

[insert your name and address]

Legislature Passes Budget and Reverses Trend

Amy Campbell — Fri, 04 May 2018 02:58:32 GMT

The 2018 Legislature is taking a step toward reversing the erosion of the Kansas mental health system and social services in general.

It took 12 rounds of negotiations over three days, but the House/Senate conference committee wrapped up budget negotiations around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night. All in all, it was the most courteous and respectful budget negotiations we have seen in a longtime The bill was ready for floor debate by 5 p.m. on Thursday (today).

The House passed the Budget Conference Committee Report on SB 109 with a vote of 98-23 at 5:30 p.m. after 30 minutes of discussion. The Senate passed the budget CCR 26-14 at 8:26 p.m. There is a tax conference committee report that may or may not prevent the Legislature from wrapping things up – but it looks like the Legislature may get out late tonight.

The final budget compromise spends less than the House had proposed but more than the Senate version. You can see the specific details at this link - here are some of the items included in the legislation:

Funding to begin a Medicaid supported housing program ($4.8 m AF/$2.2 m SGF),
Funding for new / recreated Medicaid “health homes” model program ($2.5 million SGF),
Line item funding for crisis stabilization centers for RSI, Valeo, ComCare and new services in Salina,
Stops a $1 million sweep from the problem gambling and addictions fund to the state general fund and redirects that money to supplement substance use treatment block grant services in FY 18,
$6 million funding for three juvenile community crisis centers in response to recommendations from the Judicial Council, to address gaps from juvenile justice reform and the child welfare system (from the Evidence Based Juvenile Programs Account of the State General Fund),
Directs the proceeds from selling Rainbow building to RSI debt and emergency housing and assistance through RSI, Valeo and ComCare Community Crisis Centers,
Requires KanCare to implement a no less than 60-day initial authorization policy for inpatient treatment in psychiatric residential treatment facilities,
Add $425,200 including $152,600 SGF to administratively implement a Medicaid reinstatement policy for individuals being released from corrections facilities, state hospitals, or other institutional placements as detailed in SB 195 for FY 19,
Add $350,000 SGF for Medicaid tobacco cessation policy changes for FY 19,
Funds for mental health first aid training,
Reinstates the mental health task force with additional members and directs the group to provide recommendations regarding state hospitals and regionalization, as well as other topics,
Adds line item funding for clubhouse programs ($500,000),
Directs KDHE to address concerns with the federal Medicaid institutions for mental disease (IMD) exclusion, behavioral health access, and telehealth options in FY 18,
Includes language to postpone KanCare 2.0 policy changes – new language similar to SB 300 – and requires legislative approval of Medicaid policy changes (KanCare funding lapsed if this provision is violated),
Add $9.6 million, including $4.8 million from the State General Fund, to provide Administrative Case Management services for individuals on the Physical Disability (PD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and Frail Elderly (FE) Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waivers for FY 2019. This amount includes $4.4 million, including $2.2 million from the State General Fund, for individuals on the PD waiver; $589,462, including $294,731 from the State General Fund, for individuals on the TBI waiver; and $4.5 million, including $2.3 million from the State General Fund, for individuals on the FE waiver for FY 19,
Adds supplemental funding to Osawatomie and Larned State Hospitals to make up for increased costs and reduced federal revenues, and
Adds new money and state employee positions for expansion of the sexual predator treatment program.

Other funding items include:

Enhanced funds for various child welfare services,
Enhanced Medicaid reimbursement for nursing facilities and hospitals,
Adds $200,000 for meals for the senior nutrition program,
Additional funds for Parents as Teachers and Tiny K programs,
TANF funds for foster children to participate in Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, and municipal parks and recreation programs for FY 19,
Adds $300,000 TANF funds for Communities in Schools - case management services to at risk students,
Adds funds to increase payments for foster care kinship placements,
Adds $1 million TANF fund for the Kidzlit program for FY 19 – reading skills and social development skills, and
State employee wage increases - the amount depends on whether or not they received a raise in 2017 and the value of those raises.

And here is a timely new section:

Add language restricting any agency from expending funds to create, enter into, or enforce any non-disclosure agreement in regards to claims from sexual harassment for FY 19.
Add language restricting any agency from expending funds to settle sexual harassment claims against a state officer for FY 19.

It is another late night at the Legislature, but happily, this could be the last for a while. Some are predicting they will have to come back for a special session when the Supreme Court rules that the K-12 Funding Legislation is insufficient, but that is yet to be seen.

Tomorrow, May 4, is the scheduled Sine Die – last official day of the 2018 Legislative Session They will not need to work on Friday If they are able to address the few remaining conference committee reports tonight. Some of the still outstanding issues include:

CCR relating to faith based adoption agencies and their religious freedom to not serve same sex couples,
Potential effort to pull up another bill relating to guns, concealed carry and reciprocal licenses, and
The tax compromise conference committee report that decouples Kansas income tax policies from the Trump Tax Plan, along with a number of other tax items. (This is being touted as returning money to the taxpayers that would have increased Kansas revenues as a result of the federal tax plan.)

Meanwhile, we have another storm rolling through Topeka, so it isn’t a bad idea to be spending the evening in the State Capitol made of solid stone.

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Kansas Lottery Vending Machines

Today, the 2018 Legislature passed Conference Committee Report on HB 2194 - a gut and go maneuver to pass the Lottery Vending Machine legislation that was passed in 2017 but vetoed by Governor Brownback. Once implemented, Lottery vending machines will be the designated funding source for clubhouse programs and crisis services. These expenditures are capped, and replace the state general fund allocations in CCR on SB 109. Read the CCR Brief here.

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Legislature Meets Turnaround Deadline - Works Bills All Week

Amy Campbell — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 21:57:52 GMT

Last Thursday was Turnaround Day at the Kansas Legislature. This is the deadline for non-exempt bills to pass the first chamber (known as the house of origin), whether introduced in the House or the Senate. Exempt bills are those that have been introduced, referred to, or acted on by exempt committees: House and Senate Federal and State Affairs, Senate Ways and Means, Senate Assessment and Taxation, House committees on Calendar and Printing, Appropriations, Taxation or select committees of either house when so authorized.

Find a List of Legislation being tracked by KMHC here.

Coalition is Developing Consensus Issues

Amy Campbell — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 08:56:45 GMT

Each year, the Kansas Mental Health Coalition updates its consensus recommendations. Any member may bring a proposal by submitting the recommendation in the form of an issue paper. Please use the following issue paper format (view here) and contact the President or Lobbyist to have your item added to the meeting agenda in October or November. This is also the time for member organizations to bring their consensus issues to the Coalition's attention - either for adoption or simply to inform.

Proposals will be discussed by the membership and adopted by consensus. The Coalition will only promote policies that have the consensus of our members.

Legislature Adjourns Sine Die

Amy Campbell — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:28:43 GMT

(June 26, 2017) The Legislature returned to Topeka for Sine Die, the ceremonial last day of the 2017 Legislative Session.

There were no veto override efforts. House Minority Leader Jim Ward, D-Wichita, hoped to override Governor Brownback's line item veto of a budget proviso that prohibited HCBS waiver integration, but the Senate met and adjourned quickly. There did not appear to be enough House members present to be successful and the Senate had met and adjourned very quickly.

"I would make the motion to override the governor's veto, but our friends in the Senate had other engagements," Ward said. "Standing up for the disabled and mentally ill in Kansas wasn't on their agenda today, and they've gone home. It would be an exercise in futility, but it would be the right thing to do."

Jason Probst (D-Hutchinson) was sworn in to replace Patsy Terrell, who passed away suddenly during the veto session.

John Wilson (D-Lawrence) announced his retirement from the House - saying that his young family and career needed his attention. Said Wilson, "Now is actually a really great time to be in the Legislature. It's just not a really great time for me."

Governor Brownback vetoed Sub for HB 2313 – the lottery vending machine bill that included funding for certified clubhouse programs and crisis stabilization centers. While the Kansas Mental Health Coalition has no position regarding the authorization of lottery vending machines, the Coalition supports these two important programs that have proven outcomes benefiting people with mental illness and substance abuse issues.

The lottery vending machines were to be a designated funding source for the Crisis Intervention Act (Sub for H 2053) and the certified clubhouse programs. The clubhouse programs previously suffered a veto as part of the Medicaid Expansion Act - HB 2044. The Governor directs the community mental health centers to create a pilot program for clubhouse programs from their resources in his veto message. Read the Governor’s Veto message.

Language in HB 2002, the budget bill, provided for additional funding for community mental health centers and lapsed a portion if the lottery bill was adopted.

Governor Brownback also vetoed two provisions of the budget bill – both relating to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Read more.

Sine Die; Veto Messages; Articles of Interest

Amy Campbell — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 23:46:46 GMT

The Legislature returns to Topeka tomorrow for Sine Die, the ceremonial last day of the 2017 Legislative Session.

This would be the only opportunity for veto override efforts.

Language in HB 2002, the budget bill, provided for additional funding for community mental health centers and lapsed a portion if the lottery bill was adopted.

Governor Brownback also vetoed two provisions of the budget bill – both relating to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Details are below.

From the Office of the Governor:

Governor Sam Brownback signs budget bill, line item vetoes two provisions

Jun 25, 2017

Topeka – Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed Senate Substitute for House Bill 2002. He issued the following statement:

“This budget, passed on the 113th day of the legislative session, unnecessarily increases government spending in several areas and fails to adopt common sense cost saving measures identified by the legislature’s own efficiency study. However, I am signing the budget, despite my concerns about excessive spending, to avoid a break in core functions of government and to provide state workers with well-deserved pay increases.”

Pursuant to Article 2, Section 14(b) of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, the Governor returned Senate Substitute for House Bill 2002 with the following line item vetoes:

· Limitation on the ability of KDADS to best serve vulnerable Kansans

· Section 174 – Vetoed broad language limiting the ability of KDADS to implement changes, no matter how minor, to some programs and services. (Section 174 printed below)

· Redirection of funding for KDADS Clubhouse Model Program Fund

· Section 99-(q) and Section 100-(o) – Vetoed language establishing a funding receptacle which was made unnecessary by the veto of HB 2313. Governor Brownback has directed KDADS to work with the Community Mental Health Centers to establish a pilot with Clubhouse Model Program providers in fiscal year 2018 in order to expand the scope of this program. (Vetoed language printed below)

The Governor’s full message to the legislature can be found here.

The Governor has now signed 102 bills into law this session, vetoed four, and allowed one to become law without his signature. By law, the Kansas governor has 10 calendar days to sign the bill into law, veto the bill or allow the bill to become law without his signature.

Here is the budget language that was vetoed -

Section 99(q): (q) In addition to the other purposes for which expenditures may be made by the above agency from moneys appropriated from the state general fund or from any special revenue fund or funds for fiscal year 2018 by this or any other appropriation act of the 2017 or 2018 regular session of the legislature, expenditures shall be made by the above agency from moneys appropriated from the state general fund or from any special revenue fund or funds for fiscal year 2018 to provide medicaid reimbursement for clubhouse rehabilitation services and to enter into contracts with certified clubhouse providers for such services: Provided, That, as used in this subsection, ‘‘clubhouse rehabilitation services’’ means a community-based psychosocial rehabilitation program in which the member, with staff assistance, is engaged in operating all aspects of the clubhouse, including food, clerical, reception, janitorial and other member services such as employment training, housing assistance and educational support, and that is designed to alleviate emotional or behavior problems with the goal of transitioning to a less restrictive level of care, reintegrating the member into the community and increasing social connectedness beyond a clinical or employment setting

Section 100(o): (o) In addition to the other purposes for which expenditures may be made by the above agency from moneys appropriated from the state general fund or from any special revenue fund or funds for fiscal year 2019 by this or any other appropriation act of the 2017, 2018 or 2019 regular session of the legislature, expenditures shall be made by the above agency from moneys appropriated from the state general fund or from any special revenue fund or funds for fiscal year 2019 to provide medicaid reimbursement for clubhouse rehabilitation services and to enter into contracts with certified clubhouse providers for such services: Provided, That, as used in this subsection, ‘‘clubhouse rehabilitation services’’ means a community-based psychosocial rehabilitation program in which the member, with staff assistance, is engaged in operating all aspects of the clubhouse, including food, clerical, reception, janitorial and other member services such as employment training, housing assistance and educational support, and that is designed to alleviate emotional or behavior problems with the goal of transitioning to a less restrictive level of care, reintegrating the member into the community and in

Section 174: Sec. 174. (a) During fiscal year 2018 and fiscal year 2019, notwithstanding any other provision of law, no state agency shall expend any moneys appropriated for fiscal year 2018 or fiscal year 2019 from the state general fund or from any special revenue fund or funds by this or any other appropriation act of the 2017, 2018 or 2019 regular session of the legislature to integrate, consolidate or otherwise alter the structure of any of the following home and community based waiver services under the Kansas program of medical assistance, or to submit to the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services any proposal to integrate, consolidate or otherwise alter the structure of such services or to combine, reassign or otherwise alter currently designated responsibilities to provide intake, assessment or referral services for such services, if such integration, consolidation, alterations, combination or reassignment is designed or intended to be implemented prior to fiscal year 2020: Medical services; behavioral health services; transportation; nursing facilities; other longterm care; autism; frail elderly; technology assistance; physical disability; traumatic brain injury; intellectual/developmental disability; or serious emotional disturbance: Provided, That the department of health and environment and the Kansas department for aging and disability services shall prepare and submit reports to the house standing committee on appropriations, the senate standing committee on ways and means and the Robert G. (Bob) Bethell joint committee on home and community based services and KanCare oversight describing the status of any plan to integrate, consolidate or alter such waiver services or combine, reassign or otherwise alter currently designated responsibilities to provide intake, assessment or referral services for such services, including any proposed waiver applications or amendments, any service definitions and the proposed rate structure for each such service: Provided further, That the department of health and environment and the Kansas department for aging and disability services shall submit such reports on or before January 1, 2018, and March 1, 2018.

Articles of Interest

Kansas Lawmakers Boost Some Spending for Mental Health System – kcur.org

http://kcur.org/post/kansas-lawmakers-boost-some-spending-mental-health-system#stream/0

New Problems Same Result: Federal Payments Still Halted for Osawatomie State Hospital – kcur.org

http://kcur.org/post/new-problems-same-result-federal-payments-still-halted-osawatomie-state-hospital

Editorial: It’s Time to Think About Replacing Osawatomie State Hospital

http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article157965149.html

Legislature Wraps Up June 10 - Budget Report

Amy Campbell — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 22:48:53 GMT

Legislature Wraps Up June 10

The Kansas Legislature went home Saturday evening after approving Senate Sub for HB 2002 – the conference committee report containing the mega-budget and omnibus budget provisions. The budget does not meet all of the goals set out by the Coalition, but it does reverse of the negative trend for the behavioral health continuum of care over the past ten years.

The House/Senate budget negotiations were rushed this year, with the six members of the Appropriations/Ways and Means budget conference committee meeting every few hours beginning Thursday evening, after the House had adopted its budget bill, and wrapping up around midnight Friday night.

Legislators return to Topeka June 26 for Sine Die – the ceremonial last day of the session. They may or may not have any real work to do, depending whether or not Governor Brownback pulls out his veto pen again. He can line item veto items in the budget bill and some are predicting he will veto HB 2278, "the guns bill", which allows state hospitals and other public health facilities to continue to ban guns on their premises. It is true that the administration requested the exemption for the state hospitals, but some believe he will oppose extending that privilege to KU Medical Center and other facilities

Budget Adjustments (these items are adjusted from the Governor’s proposal)

Following budget policy this session was a challenge with multiple bills, provisos and other moving pieces. Below is a list of items we’ve been tracking. Please note that there may be adjustments later, as the agencies calculate what these amendments to the Governor’s Budget Proposal really mean to their bottom lines. The article continues below the chart.

	FY 17	FY 18	FY 19
KDADS contract community providers for targeted MH residential treatment (HB 2052)	1.0 m SGF
Restore the 4% Medicaid provider reimbursement reductions from May 2016 allotment (HB 2002 and HB 2079) Target date July 1 2017		161.3 m AF	226.7 m AF
House Proviso to add CMHC funding from multiple sources = combination of grants and crisis stabilization centers funding to total $10.5 m in FY 18 and $13.2 m in FY 19 (HB 2002) see breakout below
CMHC Grant Restoration* (HB 2002)		4.0 m	2.2 m
CMHC Grant Restoration* (HB 2002/HB 2079 assumes HMO fees meet projections)		3.5 m	5.0 m
Community Crisis Stabilization Centers (HB 2002/HB 2053 = CIA/HB 2313 assumes Lottery vending machines meet projections)		3.0 m	6.0 m
Clubhouse Model Program Fund** (HB 2002/HB 2313 assumes Lottery vending machines meet projections)		1.0 m	2.0 m
House Proviso orders KDADS to pursue certified clubhouse model programs in FY 18. (HB 2002 – proviso replaces HB 2044 language which was vetoed due to the Medicaid Expansion addition to the bill)
Restore reimbursement for inpatient assessments at CMHCs (HB 2002)	SGF/AF	1.3/2.8	1.3/2.3
Rural Health Psychiatric Bridging Program at University of Kansas (HB 2002/SB 32 psychiatric medical loan repayment)		1.0 m
Fund an additional 20 beds at Osawatomie State Hospital. If the facility cannot open the beds at Osawatomie State Hospital, the funding is to be used to enter into a contract to provide patient beds through third-party facilities for FY 2018. (HB 2002)		4.7 m	4.7 m
Osawatomie State Hospital (OSH) Supplemental Operating Funds *** to replace lost federal income due to decertification and declining private pay (HB 2052/HB 2002)	2.8 m	6.6 m
Larned State Hospital (LSH) Supplemental Operating Funds to replace federal DSH recoupment due to incorrectly including SPTP numbers and declining private pay (HB 2002)		6.5 m
Senate proviso requires the agency to issue a request for proposal for the construction of a 100-bed psychiatric care facility at Osawatomie State Hospital and require the agency to report the results of the request to the Joint Committee on State Building Construction, Senate Ways and Means Committee, and House Appropriations Committee on or before January 8, 2018. (HB 2002)
Senate proviso requires the agency to conduct an engineering survey on all buildings on the grounds of Osawatomie State Hospital to determine whether buildings can be renovated and the cost of renovations; if buildings cannot be renovated, the cost of the demolition; and that such report will be presented to the Joint Committee on State Building Construction, Senate Ways and Means Committee, and House Appropriations Committee on or before January 8, 2018. (HB 2002)
HCBS waivers provider reimbursement rate increase for wages of direct services workers (HB 2002)		20.3 m 3.0%	48.1 m 4.0%
House Floor Amendment requires KDADS to convene a mental health task force to provide a report to Legislature by Jan 8 2018 (HB 2002)

*Kansas Mental Health Coalition supported restoration of $20 million to CMHC grants, but the 2017 Legislature made a good start by restoring $7.5 million.

**Breakthrough Club of Wichita had requested opening a Medicaid reimbursement code, but the Legislature opted for a contract program at KDADS due to the uncertain fiscal note.

***Governor’s Budget Amendment No. 1, Item 7, added $13.2 million, including $8.9 million from the State General Fund for FY 2018 The Senate Committee recommended a different amount totaling $6.6 million, including $2.3 million from the State General Fund, which is a decrease of $6.6 million, all from the State General Fund, below the Governor's budget amendment. The Senate Committee also recommended the State Finance Council review the current status of funding at Osawatomie State Hospital during the 2017 legislative interim. If the Adair Acute Care Unit is recertified before the end of FY 18, the additional money may not be needed. (KDADS initially requested $11.7 m in FY 18 but the Governor did not include those funds in his January budget proposal.)

NOTE: KDADS initially requested $3.9 m for hospital diversion – which would include the 12 adult diversion beds operated by KVC in Kansas City. It is not clear to me yet how this contract is to be funded, but it could be a part of the $6.6 m supplemental funding for OSH or perhaps the $4.7 m for bed expansion.

More Budget News

There are other significant elements of the budget bill. HB 2002 includes State Employee Wage Increases of 2.5 percent for all except elected officials and those who have had recent wage increases and 5.0 percent for employees who have not had a wage increase in five years. Kansas will also open an on-site state employee health care clinic in Topeka at a cost of $2.7 million.

Safety net clinics received $1 million, but I’m not yet certain if that is an enhancement or restoration of lost funding. The senior care act funding is restored to pre-FY 17 funding with $1.5 million in FY 18 and $2.1 million in FY 19.

The Office of the Inspector General is moved out of KDHE to the Attorney General’s office.

The State will transfer $6 million to KDOC for evidence based juvenile programs.

The Legislature specifically prohibits KDADS and KDHE from pursuing integration of the HCBS waivers and authorizes KDHE to extend the Kancare contracts another year. The Legislature reversed the “capable person policy” that KDADS had implemented for HCBS waivers.

A proviso requires KDADS to report quarterly on the number of people, cost of services, and encounter data for the individual HCBS waivers.

The Legislature rejected the Governor’s plan to securitize the Children’s Initiatives Fund / KEY fund.

The Department for Children and Families will implement Sub for SB 95 allowing for telephonic signatures for public assistance applications and report on actual costs for program implementation.

The Children’s Service League’s intensive home visitation program will receive TANF funds of $3 million.

While SB 30 is a significant income tax bill, raising $582 m in its first year, the budget still requires sweeps from the Kansas Highway Fund, transfers from the Pooled Money Investments Board, and delayed KPERs payments. There may also be healthy internal borrowing in FY 18 to bolster the reinstatement of the 4% Medicaid cuts, since money from the increased HMO privilege fees won’t come in until March 2018.

On another note, projected receipts from expanded gaming (casinos) are dropping – reduced $2.8 m in FY 17, $6.5 m in FY 18, and $7.8 m in FY 19. This reduces the money available in the expanded gaming addictions fund

Finally, there is a group of legislators – including many Democrats, who believe the new education finance plan passed in SB 19 last Tuesday will not pass Supreme Court scrutiny, and they could be back in Topeka in July for a special session. That bill spends an additional $186.6 million in FY 18 and $283.8 million in FY 19 to satisfy the Supreme Court decision that K-12 funding is inadequate.

If you have questions about the budget or any other legislation, feel free to contact Amy.

Contact Amy Campbell, KMHC Lobbyist by clicking here: Lobbyist Email

Another Tax Bill Rejected

Amy Campbell — Tue, 23 May 2017 14:01:11 GMT

Tomorrow is Day 100 of the 2017 Kansas Legislative Session – Another Tax Bill Rejected

House leaders hoped to gain progress as they began the 4^th week of the Veto Session with a new tax bill – but it did not work out as planned. The Tax Conference Committee crafted Sub for SB 30 on Monday afternoon, and the House debated the bill at 7 p.m. Monday evening. It was a combination of income tax increases and motor fuels tax anticipated to raise about $600 million per year.

It appeared this new tax package might pass – afternoon social media posts by several moderate interest groups supported the plan – but it failed 53-68. Read SB 30 Summary here. Most of the House Democrats have pledged to hold out until an education funding plan is part of the package. Multiple Republicans spoke against the bill – saying it raised more revenue than is necessary to close the immediate budget gap. That is unclear without an education plan.

Read the article : Kansas Votes Down Latest Plan to Roll Back Brownback Tax Plan – Kansas City Star http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article152071472.html

House and Senate leaders have been working to close the $900 million budget gap between revenues and forecast expenditures before resolving the education funding challenge put forth by the Kansas Supreme Court. In order to do that, they would need to convince enough education supporters that there will be a separate funding bill that is sufficient to satisfy the court before the end of the session, and many just aren’t buying it.

So, all of those who are counting on pieces of the mega-budget and omnibus budget plans must simply wait to see if tax policy can be crafted that would preserve their needs while also covering whatever new funding target the Legislature adopts for K-12 education. (Neither the mega-budget nor omnibus budget proposals have been voted on by either chamber.)

The Senate Education Budget Committee is meeting this afternoon and Chair Jim Denning suggested they may work well into the night to put together a Senate education plan. The Senate has lagged behind the House in working on an education proposal.

The House Education Budget Committee passed a bill “without recommendation” on May 15 that would spend an additional $179 million in the 1^st year and $100 million in the 2^nd year, but it has not seen action in the full House. Many were disappointed with that proposal, because it fell short of a plan that had been under development in the committee to increase K-12 funding $150 million per year for five years. The bill does fund all-day kindergarten and adds $21 million for at risk students. If that bill reaches the House floor for debate, it is certain to draw many amendments.

Last Friday, House Minority Leader Jim Ward offered a motion to pull that bill above the line for immediate House debate, but it was denied – and the Speaker called it “theatrics”.

The Supreme Court ordered the Kansas Legislature to address school funding adequacy by June 30.

No Secretaries for Most Legislators

Amy Campbell — Tue, 23 May 2017 13:05:08 GMT

The Kansas Legislature does not pay for secretaries for rank and file legislators after the 90^th day of the session,which was May 14. Bizarrely, some legislators do not check their office messages, meaning that a constituent calling a legislative office may receive a voice message saying the office is “closed” until January.

If you run into this problem, the majority of legislators are continuing to monitor their emails and many have alternative phone numbers on their profile at www.kslegislature.org. This veto session could easily go well into June, and many key issues are still to be debate - so please do not stop contacting your legislators!

HB 2313 Would Allow Lottery Vending Machines, Give Boost to Mental Health Funding

Amy Campbell — Fri, 19 May 2017 00:50:00 GMT

The Senate passed the Conference Committee Report for HB 2313 on May 18 on a vote of 21-16.

HB 2313 would amend the Kansas Lottery Act to allow the use of lottery ticket vending machines, the use of instant bingo vending machines, amend law concerning underage purchasing of lottery tickets and amends the State Debt Setoff Program. The instant bingo vending machines language was added by the conference committee and created controversy in the Senate.

The bill would authorize moneys in the Lottery Operating Fund be used for transfers to the Community Crisis Stabilization Centers Fund and Clubhouse Model Program Fund of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. These are new funds that would be created at KDADS. Funds transfers would provide 75% to the Community Crisis Stabilization Centers Fund and 25% to the Clubhouse Model Program Fund. Funds would be limited to no more than $4 million in FY 18 and $8 million in FY 19, FY 20, FY 21, and FY 22.

If the House adopts HB 2313, the mega-budget bill proposal would likely be adjusted reduce additional funds set aside for these services – as per a proviso adopted by the House Appropriations Committee.

The bill makes lottery and casino winnings subject to state debt program and can be withheld for child support or other state debt. Tickets purchased by underage individuals (under 18) would be void.

Affordable Care Act Repeal Passes U.S. House of Representatives

Amy Campbell — Thu, 04 May 2017 21:05:26 GMT

Today, Congress passed the AHCA repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) with a partisan vote of 217-213. The bill will go to the Senate. It is expected to be amended in the Senate.

The legislation would offer tax credits instead of subsidies to pay for health coverage. It allows states to opt out of basic requirements established by the ACA, including essential health benefits, coverage for preexisting conditions, etc. It requires states to provide high risk pools to cover those with preexisting conditions, if the state chooses to opt out and offers some funding that could be used to help pay for that and health services not covered.

The legislation changes the current cost equalization formula, allowing premiums to be lower for young people and higher for older adults. Medicaid would no longer be funded according to beneficiaries’ needs – it would be paid on a per member basis or states could accept a limited block grant for their program. Kansas state officials have been talking about a Medicaid block grant for over a year, hoping that would help them to eliminate the annual cost increases to the program. (It is not clear how annual health care cost increases would be managed if the funding does not grow at a comparable rate.)

The legislation attempts to encourage policyholders to avoid lapses in coverage by requiring a 30% surcharge when policies lapse. (This, of course, assumes that people have some choice in whether or not their policies lapse.)

The bill will repeal the payroll tax and investment tax increases on higher income payors that were designed to help pay for the ACA.

Kansas delegation in U.S. House unanimously votes for partial Obamacare repeal, http://cjonline.com/news/local/2017-05-04/kansas-delegation-us-house-unanimously-votes-partial-obamacare-repeal

Read an article about what is in the AHCA legislation https://www.nytimescom/2017/05/04/us/politics/major-provisions-republican-health-care-bill.html?_r=0

Senate Ways and Means passes Omnibus, Privilege Fees, Concealed Carry Exemptions

Amy Campbell — Thu, 04 May 2017 21:03:23 GMT

Senate Ways and Means Passes Several Key Bills

This afternoon, the Senate Ways and Means Committee passed several key bills.

HB 2002 is the Senate’s omnibus budget bill – containing the items not addressed in the mega-budget bill. It includes some of the Governor’s Budget Amendments, consensus caseloads adjustments and such. After making another round of adjustments and adding new provisos this afternoon, the committee adopted Senate Sub for HB 2002 on a vote of 11-2 The Senate omnibus bill does not fully fund the Osawatomie State Hospital shortfall, but does include $2.8 m for FY 17 and $6.6 m for FY 18 (half of the Governor’s request). The Senate committee also added provisos – the first requires the agency to issue an RFP to build a 100 bed state hospital facility at Osawatomie to be operated by the State. The second asks the agency for a full engineering study of the buildings and property and the rehabilitation or demolition needs at Osawatomie State Hospital. See the attached notes of the committee meeting last Friday to read the committee discussion beginning page 6 re: OSH. (Read the notes from Senate Ways and Means Friday, April 28.)
HB 2130 – now contains the MCO privilege fees language needed to restore the Medicaid reimbursement cuts. Will need to see a copy to compare with HB 2180.
Senate Sub for HB 2278 – contains the language from SB 235 to exempt state hospitals, KU Hospital Authority, community mental health centers, indigent care clinics and public adult care homes from the concealed carry requirements. According to Chair Carolyn McGinn, the committee has been waiting for an amendment to be negotiated, but that amendment has not been forthcoming. Therefore, the committee would advance this bill or would need to add the $12 million for security at the state mental health hospitals as described in the Governor’s Budget Amendment request. (See page 2 of the notes to read the notes from the committee discussion last week on the topic of allowing guns on the state mental health hospital campus.) The motion was offered by Senator Anthony Hensley and seconded by Senator Skubal. A motion to amend by including college campuses was reluctantly withdrawn by Senator Tom Hawk when it appeared the amendment could scuttle the entire bill. The bill was adopted as amended on a voice vote with one recorded “no” from Senator Alley.

Crisis Intervention Act Advances

Amy Campbell — Wed, 03 May 2017 19:06:55 GMT

The Senate approved legislation creating the Crisis Intervention Act – it will now go to the House for approval, where it is expected to pass. The House passed the Act (referred to as the CIA) under the original bill title HB 2240 on February 23. Then, the Judiciary Conference Committee inserted HB 2240 into Senate Sub for HB 2053 the first week of April prior to First Adjournment. The House is likely to vote on the conference committee report Thursday.

Read the conference committee report summary here: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/documents/ccrb_hb2053_01_0000.pdf

Senate Sub for HB 2053 was introduced and passed the House as HB 2240, the Crisis Intervention Act. It still carries a title referring to asbestos - but those contents were removed in conference. The Act creates an entity licensed by the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) that is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, equipped to serve voluntary and involuntary individuals in crisis due to mental illness, substance abuse, or a co-occurring condition, and that uses certified peer specialists. One of the primary goals is to provide immediate services to individuals who come to the designated center in a behavioral health crisis – and who might otherwise have to endure extended waiting periods before being involuntarily committed and ultimately admitted to state mental health hospitals. Since the moratorium on admissions at Osawatomie State Hospital was put in place, there are between 6 and 36 people waiting in emergency rooms or other places on any given day, and these locations may or may not be properly staffed for the safety and appropriate care of these individuals.

“Crisis intervention center service area” would be defined as the counties to which the crisis intervention center has agreed to provide service. Allows 72-hour involuntary admission, requires evaluation of a person admitted under the Act by a behavioral health professional not later than 23 hours after admission and again not later than 48 hours after admission. Research outcomes in other states indicate that these kinds of services at the community level can help individuals to access treatment and release more quickly – with many able to go home in less than 72 hours, avoiding longer unnecessary commitments. At this time, there are only a few facilities in the state that might qualify for these licenses. It remains to be seen if funds for additional crisis stabilization services will survive the legislative budget process

First Adjournment Approaches

Amy Campbell — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 21:49:29 GMT

First Adjournment Approaches, Budget News

The Kansas Legislature is working toward First Adjournment Friday April 7 - when they will break for several week before returning to Topeka for Veto Session. To date, there isn't a state budget, tax plan, or new school finance plan.

Today, the House is debating HB 2180 - a bill to fund the reinstatement of the four percent Medicaid reimbursement cuts through increased privilege fees on managed care organizations. It is controversial because there are HMO insurance plans outside Kancare that would also be responsible for the fees. The bill is supported by a coalition of provider groups, including the Association of Community Mental Health Centers and Kansas Association of Addiction Professionals.

Yesterday, an attempt by Rep. Ward to pull a gun-related bill up for House consideration failed. The bill would have been a vehicle for amendments to extend the concealed carry exemption for hospitals, colleges, mental health centers and other public buildings.

Yesterday, the Senate adopted the conference committee report on the Rescission Budget bill (Senate Sub for HB 2052) which funds the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2017.

The House has not yet passed a mega-budget bill to fund FY 18 and FY 19.

Yesterday, the press reported there were meetings between legislative leaders and the Governor to attempt to put forward a tax plan. We don't know if there was consensus. The Senate Taxation Committee has advanced a flat tax bill that might receive Senate consideration - but is considered by many to be unfair to lower income Kansans. The Committee added a food sales tax reduction to try to balance those considerations.

The House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means Committees are supposed to return to Topeka the week before Veto Session to continue work on their budget issues.

Meanwhile, the Legislature continues to churn through bills.

Medicaid Expansion and Clubhouse Legislation Veto

On Monday, the House was unable to override the Governor's veto, so the Medicaid Expansion legislation and the Breakthrough Club Program legislation would have to be amended into a different bill to survive.

Read the statement from the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas:

While we came up short in overriding the Governor’s reckless veto of the KanCare expansion bill, our fight continues. Now is not the time to be discouraged.

The calls, emails, turnout at meetings and rallies, and the support you and your organization helped generate has propelled us to get to where we are. As a result, we’re very close to making KanCare expansion a reality.

Thank you.

Our work goes on. Expanding KanCare will continue to be discussed this session because legislators know they need to respond to us -- 82% of Kansans support the effort.

And if we’re not able to expand KanCare this session, we will continue to organize and engage. After all, in less than a year, our Alliance was able to get a bill passed in both legislative chambers by overwhelming margins. Imagine what we can do with another year of advocacy and outreach.

Together, we can expand KanCare. Bringing our tax dollars home can improve the lives of more than 150,000 Kansans – our neighbors, our friends, our families – and help protect our hospitals and our communities. This is not only the right thing to do, it’s the best way forward.

Over the weekend, thousands of calls were made to legislators and hundreds showed up at community forums in Silver Lake, Olathe, Ottawa, Hutchinson and Lincoln. The Lawrence Journal World’s coverage of the Silver Lake forum noted that two years ago, it would have been unthinkable for 50 people to turn out to event urging legislators to expand KanCare.

You and your organization’s activism and engagement has changed the discussion about health care and the need to KanCare. By being actively involved, we are forcing legislators to realize their health policy decisions impact real people and are not just talking points on a campaign postcard.

I could not be more honored to be fighting with you to expand KanCare and to make Kansas a healthier place to live and work.

Thank you again for all of your support,

David Jordan

Alliance for a Healthy Kansas
700 SW Jackson Street Suite 600
Topeka KS 66603 United States

Governor Vetoes Medicaid Expansion / Clubhouse Programs Bill

Amy Campbell — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 15:22:57 GMT

Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed HB 2044 - the bill that included clubhouse rehabilitation programs and Medicaid Expansion language. The bill was expected to provide Medicaid coverage to up to 150,000 low-income Kansans. It would have provided coverage to many of the uninsured individuals currently receiving unreimbursed care at community mental health centers and hospitals.

Brownback’s veto was announced this morning on Twitter and was expected by many legislators, journalists and lobbyists. The Kansas Legislature has 30 days to override the veto, which would require two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate. See the Governor's twitter announcement below.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article141667939.html#storylink=cpy

Twitter

Sam Brownback ✔@govsambrownback

I vetoed Medicaid expansion. It does not prioritize the vulnerable. It does not #DefundPP. It isn't responsible. It's bad for Kansas. #ksleg

8:28 AM - 30 Mar 2017

Senate Passes HB 2044 - Medicaid Expansion & Clubhouse Program Legislation

Amy Campbell — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 21:14:09 GMT

Today - the Kansas Senate passed HB 2044 with a vote of 25 to 14. This bill is also known as "the KanCare bridge to a healthy Kansas program."

Advocates will now wait to see if the Governor will veto the legislation.

Kansas Senate votes to expand Medicaid as Gov. Sam Brownback doubles down on opposition Read more here: http://wwwkansascity.com/news/politics-government/article141118813.html#storylink=cpy

Mental Health Advocacy Day at the Capitol followup

Amy Campbell — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 20:57:15 GMT

Thank you for attending Mental Health Advocacy Day. We hope you were able to talk about mental health with legislators and meet new people who care as much as you do.

To make the most of your trip, we ask that you do two more things:

1. Thank your legislators. Please send a short thank you to legislators for your meetings and be sure to include your contact information and any followup information you may have promised. There are tips in the following document - Click Here for Step by Step Tips for Appointments with Legislators

2. Please provide feedback about your experience and your appointments at the following link

www.surveymonkey.com/r/Advocacy_Day_2017

Complete your feedback form by March 22nd and your name will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card.

2017 Legislative Session Begins

Amy Campbell — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 16:29:31 GMT

The Kansas Legislature convened for the 2017 Legislative Session today, January 9, in Topeka.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW: March 15, 2017 – Mental Health Advocacy Day The schedule and registration information will be sent in a separate message.

Click to see the 2017 Session Planner here. This calendar shows the days the Legislature will be in session and the deadlines for bill introductions and passage. It is subject to change. Legislative leaders expect to have a longer legislative session this year, and will face issues such as major tax changes, Medicaid expansion, and a new school finance formula. The task will be challenging, with revenues $340 million short for the fiscal year ending in June. Most of the newly elected legislators ran on the promise to reform the income tax reductions for business owners that were passed in 2012 and 2013 – but the Governor is opposed.

The Governor’s State of the State speech will be 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 10, and the House and Senate budget committees will receive the Governor’s Budget Proposal Wednesday morning. Shawn Sullivan, Budget Director, will present the report to the House Appropriations and Taxation Committees at 9:00 a.m. and Senate Ways and Means Committee at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. That report will be posted at the Governor's Budget website at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday - http://budget.ks.gov . It is expected to contain a combination of budget cuts and revenue changes.

It is important to take a moment each Friday to look at the House and Senate calendars posted for the following week at www.kslegislature.org to see what public hearings and meetings are scheduled for the following week. This is especially important if you are watching specific issues of interest. A better way to be prepared to act is to contact the committee secretary (listed below each committee name in the calendar) and ask IF and WHEN a bill or issue is to be discussed. Typically, if you wish to testify or submit written comments for a public hearing on a bill, you will need to sign up with the secretary and turn in your testimony or comments at least 24 hours in advance. Each committee’s rules are different and secretaries may have different requirements. Unfortunately, there will also be hearings that pop up in the middle of the week with very little advance notice. Committee schedules are also posted on the walls outside the House and Senate chambers and updated when changes occur.

Mental Health Matters - Now is the Time to Reach Out to Candidates

Amy Campbell — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:05:22 GMT

Mental Health Matters - Now Is the Time to Reach Out to Candidates

This the time when current legislators and those who are running for office are most engaged in listening to the people in their communities. Please reach out to the candidates in your local races and share your interest in mental health issues.

Click here to view a list of 2016 Election Candidates.

2016 Legislature Adopts Budget then Adjourns in the Early Morning May 2nd - More Cuts to Come

Amy Campbell — Mon, 02 May 2016 11:30:00 GMT

House Passes Budget and Adjourns around 1:30 a.m.- Senate Works Past 3:20 a.m. in the early hours of Monday, May 2nd

The Kansas House approved the budget bill (House Sub for SB 249) at 1:05 a.m. after a little more than an hour of debate. The vote was 63-59. They adjourned shortly after. The 2016 Session is being touted as the shortest in 42 years by the House Speaker's Office. That assumed the Senate would also approve the budget - which seemed uncertain around 3:00 a.m. It was not clear what they would do if the votes were not there, since the House of Representatives had already gone home, planning to return June 1 for Sine Die.

The Senate was placed on a Call (which would require every senator to be present and vote) because the budget bill was failing on a vote of 17 - 21. Ultimately, senators began to switch their votes and it passed 22-18.

The budget agreement includes all of the Governor's Budget Amendments except the three budget balancing options. This includes the added money for the State Mental Health Hospitals. See the Governor's Budget Amendments here.

Rather than selecting one of the three options to cut programs, the conference committee instead elected to leave the difficult decisions about cutting programs and agencies to the Governor - to the tune of something around $200 million. If he uses his Option #3 - that will mean 3% to 5% budget cuts to agencies including the KDADS, KDHE, DCF, etc. The plan also cuts Regents Universities $17.6 million, sweeps $185 million from state highway funds, and counts on $10.6 million from implementing step therapy for Medicaid medications.

A few items of interest added in the conference committee include:

Added $319,000 from the State General Fund to keep caseload savings within the Department of Corrections for evidence based juvenile justice programs for FY 2017. (Preserving savings from SB 367)
Added language that any superintendent or physician newly appointed and any new staff, institution personnel, or employee shall be unclassified and Larned State Hospital and Osawatomie State Hospital shall not be outsourced or privatized without Legislative approval. (From SB 460)
Add language that any request for proposal to provide services and management at Larned State Hospital or Osawatomie State Hospital in FY 2016 must include provisions for electronic medical records, with patient data not hosted offshore, and any selection of entity providing services or management shall be approved by the Legislature.
Add language directing no expenditures can be made during FY 2016 and FY 2017 to proceed with integration of the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services waivers if the proposed integration is planned to occur prior to FY 2019. In addition, include language requiring reports to the Legislature during FY 2017.
Add language directing that an amount of State General Fund monies equivalent to the amount received in Tobacco Settlement Funds in excess of all expenditures and transfers made from the Kansas Endowment for Youth Fund be deposited in the Kansas Public Employee Retirement Trust Fund for the purposes of repaying the lapsed amount of KPERS employer contributions plus 8.0 percent per annum for FY 2017 and FY 2018. (SB 249 would enable the state to delay a $96 million payment to the state’s pension fund until 2018, giving the state more flexibility to get through the current budget year, which ends in June.)
Add language that exempts from the Governor's special allotment authority any item of appropriation for any state agency or school district educating students in K-12 for FY 2016 and FY 2017.

2016 Kansas Legislative Session Adjourned

Amy Campbell — Mon, 02 May 2016 08:52:41 GMT

2016 Kansas Legislative Session

Step Therapy / HOPE Act Passes

The Step Therapy / HOPE Act (CCR on H Sub for SB 402) passed the House 79-43 around midnight Sunday, May 1st, and the Senate 27-13 after 1:15 a.m. Read the description here. See the notes here. Remember - notes are a summary and not a transcript.

All in all, the final language adopted in the conference committee report was significantly better than what had been passed by the Senate in February. It includes six patient protection amendments proposed by the House conferees on the Health Conference Committee. Ultimately, the success or harm of the program will depend on the care exercised by the Drug Utilization Review Committee and the Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee. The Kansas Mental Health Coalition continued to oppose the bill because it did not exempt mental health medications.

House Passes Budget and Adjourns around 1:30 a.m.- Senate Works Past 3:20 a.m. in the early hours of Monday, May 2nd

A few items of interest added in the conference committee include:

Added $319,000 from the State General Fund to keep caseload savings within the Department of Corrections for evidence based juvenile justice programs for FY 2017. (Preserving savings from SB 367)
Added language that any superintendent or physician newly appointed and any new staff, institution personnel, or employee shall be unclassified and Larned State Hospital and Osawatomie State Hospital shall not be outsourced or privatized without Legislative approval. (From SB 460)
Add language that any request for proposal to provide services and management at Larned State Hospital or Osawatomie State Hospital in FY 2016 must include provisions for electronic medical records, with patient data not hosted offshore, and any selection of entity providing services or management shall be approved by the Legislature.
Add language directing no expenditures can be made during FY 2016 and FY 2017 to proceed with integration of the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services waivers if the proposed integration is planned to occur prior to FY 2019. In addition, include language requiring reports to the Legislature during FY 2017.
Add language directing that an amount of State General Fund monies equivalent to the amount received in Tobacco Settlement Funds in excess of all expenditures and transfers made from the Kansas Endowment for Youth Fund be deposited in the Kansas Public Employee Retirement Trust Fund for the purposes of repaying the lapsed amount of KPERS employer contributions plus 8.0 percent per annum for FY 2017 and FY 2018. (SB 249 would enable the state to delay a $96 million payment to the state’s pension fund until 2018, giving the state more flexibility to get through the current budget year, which ends in June.)
Add language that exempts from the Governor's special allotment authority any item of appropriation for any state agency or school district educating students in K-12 for FY 2016 and FY 2017.

Step Therapy / HOPE Act Passes 2016 Session

Amy Campbell — Mon, 02 May 2016 07:04:31 GMT

Step Therapy / HOPE Act Passes

Governor's Budget Amendments Add Funds for State Hospitals, Include Choices for Balancing Budget

Amy Campbell — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 23:26:02 GMT

Governor's Budget Amendments

Governor's Budget Amendment #1 (includes three budget balancing options) is available here.

The GBAs were adopted by both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee today. Neither committee debated the three options for balancing the budget proposed by the Governor.

The committee met jointly this morning to hear the report of the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group and to hear the Governor's Budget Amendments. The committees met separately this afternoon and reviewed the Omnibus Budget Items (linked here) - budget issues that remain unresolved, and the Consensus Caseloads Report (linked here). The full Legislature returns next Wednesday, April 27, to develop their final budget recommendations and vote on the many bills that remain in conference committees.

Governor's Budget Amendment highlights -

$3,855,852 million to continue the Osawatomie State Hospital Diversion Program - providing private beds to supplement the reduced beds at OSH. The Governor had provided a GBA in 2015 of $3.45 million, which did not last the full year and had to be supplemented within the agency. (KVC Prairie Ridge program)
$1,298,537 to increase pay at Osawatomie State Hospital in FY 17 - 10% increase to Registered Nurses and 12% increase to Mental Health Technicians as per salary study.
$450,000 to increase pay at Larned State Hospital in FY 17 - 2.5% to Mental Health Technicians as per salary study. (Have previously added funds for nurses and clinical staff)
$9,503,982 million to pay for lost federal Medicare and DSH payments at OSH due to CMS decertification and costs of recertification - ($5,905,488) offset leaves $3,598,494. Expect to spend $2.3 m on recertification and staffing plus $1.2 m on consultant contract.
$1,896,018 million to replace funds from withheld federal DSH payments at LSH due to incorrect former reimbursements that included SPTP patients
$1.1 million to offer raises to Social Workers at DCF if they switch from classified to unclassified personnel
multiple
assumes $10.6 million savings projected from passage of SB 341 Medicaid Step Therapy - bill has not passed
assumes passage of KBA bill that has been hung up on STAR bond language.
lapses savings from closing YRC beds from the passage of SB 367 Juvenile Justice Reform - research and revisors staff does not agree with agency about how to implement "lockbox" provisions to save those funds for the program. House Appropriations Committee took action to preserve those funds for KDOC, but Senate did not act.

Neither committee took action on the Governor's recommended budget balancing options.

*****************************************************************************

Governor's Budget Balancing Options: (From the GBA memo)

In order to balance the FY 2016 and FY 2017 budgets, I offer the following three choices to the 2016 Legislature:

Option One Governor’s Allotment Authority The Governor would use his special allotment authority to reduce most of the remaining sales tax going into the State Highway Fund. This would transfer $70.0 million to the State General Fund in FY 2016 and $115.0 million in FY 2017.

The Governor would also carry forward into FY 2017 the 3.0 percent reduction made to Universities in FY 2016, which would be $17.7 million in reduced expenditures.

Legislative Approval Required

In option one; the state could securitize future tobacco settlement payments in excess of $42.0 million for an estimated one-time revenue infusion of approximately $158.0 million in FY 2017. Children’s programs currently financed through the Children’s Initiatives Fund would continue to receive funding of $42.0 million per year. Legislative approval to securitize future tobacco settlement payments would be provided to the Governor through a budget proviso.

Option Two Governor’s Allotment Authority The Governor would use his special allotment authority to reduce most of the remaining sales tax going into the State Highway Fund. This would transfer $70.0 million to the State General Fund in FY 2016 and $115.0 million in FY 2017.

The Governor would also carry forward into FY 2017 the 3.0 percent reduction made to Universities in FY 2016, which would be $17.7 million in reduced expenditures.

The Governor would also utilize the special allotment authority to reduce expenditures or transfer $25.0 million in targeted efficiency savings.

Legislative Approval Required

In option two, the FY 2016 fourth quarter KPERS payment would be delayed, as provided for in 2016 House Substitute for SB 161, but repayment would not be made until FY 2018. Legislative approval to reduce KPERS contributions and delay repayments would be provided to the Governor through a budget proviso.

Option Three Governor’s Allotment Authority The Governor would use his special allotment authority to reduce most of the remaining sales tax going into the State Highway Fund. This would transfer $70.0 million to the State General Fund in FY 2016 and $115.0 million in FY 2017.

Legislative Approval Required

In option three, three to five percent expenditure reductions would be made to most state agencies for FY 2017 and would total $139.3 million. Following is a summary of the reductions that would be made to state agencies:

3.0 percent reduction

Department for Aging & Disability Services (excludes HCBS appropriation) – $11,001,850

Department of Agriculture – $296,831

Department of Administration (excludes debt service) – $282,047

Fort Hays State University – $1,016,467

Office of the Governor – $201,225

Kansas Guardianship Program – $34,389

Health & Environment—Environment – $133,228

Historical Society – $130,885

Department of Labor – $9,363

KSU—Veterinary Medical Center – $452,898

Kansas State University—ESARP – $1,422,673

Emporia State University – $948,769

Pittsburg State University – $1,085,716

State Library – $120,751

Board of Regents (excludes debt service) – $5,930,603

Court of Tax Appeals – $23,837

Department for Children & Families (excludes caseloads) – $4,225,999

Department of Education* – $ 57,262,285

* The Department of Education reduction excludes KPERS, bond/interest aid, LOB aid and Capital Outlay aid.

University of Kansas Medical Center – $3,365,797

Kansas Water Office – $34,637

5.0 percent reduction

Health & Environment—Health – $35,636,050

Kansas State University – $5,122,604

University of Kansas (excludes debt service) – $6,814,504

Wichita State University – $3,728,210

A View of the Legislative Session at First Adjournment

Amy Campbell — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 18:32:36 GMT

The 2016 Kansas Legislative Session is pushing toward First Adjournment March 23 or 24. Osawatomie State Hospital has received two informational hearings and plenty of legislative attention - focusing on CMS disqualifying the hospital from Medicare reimbursement. Two bills carry Senate amendments that will prevent the State from privatizing state mental health hospitals without specific legislative approval. A similar proviso was included in the first budget bill - already signed by the Governor.

The Jason Flatts Act for suicide prevention training in schools (SB 323) has passed the Senate and House and is headed for conference committee. See Testimony below. This bill was amended by the House to include the provisions of a bill to implement seclusion and restraint policies for schools.

Legislation to impose step therapy for Medicaid prescriptions (SB 341) has strong opposition from various health advocacy organizations, but was passed by the Senate 23 - 16 in February. The House Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing but took no further action - the bill is considered a vehicle for Medicaid Expansion and House leadership is avoiding such bills. Advocates expect the bill to be inserted into a conference committee bill because it carries a heavy fiscal note - projecting $10.6 million savings.

Mental Health Advocacy Day attracted around 300 participants on March 15 and featured a public rally with speeches from Senator Caryn Tyson, Rep. Kathy Wolfe-Moore, and Interim KDADS Secretary Tim Keck. The weather turned cold and windy, but participants were rewarded with powerful poetry by Sherrie Purpose Hall and Nick Givechi. Participants were recognized in the Senate by Senator David Haley. The House Social Services Budget Committee held an informational hearing on the report of the Adult Continuum of Care Committeee that was convened by KDADS last summer. The hearing was a robust and positive give and take about the shortcomings of the current mental health system and how to improve the continuum.

The Legislature will be on spring break through April until the veto session April 27.

See KMHC testimony below:

2016 Testimony in Support of SB 447 Behavioral Health Tax Checkoff

2016 Testimony for HSSBC Informational Hearing on the Adult Continuum of Care Committee

2016 Testimony in Support of SB 232 Jason Flatt Act for Suicide Prevention Training

2016 Testimony Opposed to SB 341 Medicaid Step Therapy Senate Public Health Committee

2016 Testimony to House Social Services Budget Committee on the Medicaid Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee

Advocates, committee try to craft consensus to fix Kansas mental health system – Kansas Health Institute

Amy Campbell — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 02:21:24 GMT

Report included dozens of recommendations

By Megan Hart | March 15, 2016

http://www.khi.org/news/article/mental-health-rally-highlights-continuum-of-care-reform

Photo by Andy MarsoRep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, a Democrat from Kansas City, said the state needs to remove the stigma from mental illness and treat it like physical conditions.

If he had a magic wand, Bill Persinger would turn back time to May 2009.

Failing that, however, he would increase resources for crisis care and substance abuse treatment, said Persinger, who is CEO of Valeo Behavioral Health Care.

Photo by Dave RanneyRep. Will Carpenter, a Republican from El Dorado, said he hopes the Social Services Budget committee will have a proposal to improve the state's mental health system by the end of this session.

View larger photo

Rep. Will Carpenter, chair of the House Social Services Budget committee, asked Persinger and two other people who testified before the committee on Tuesday afternoon what they would do to fix the state’s mental health system if given a magic wand as a way of narrowing down priorities. The Adult Continuum of Care Committee had produced a report with dozens of recommendations, but confronting them all at once would be impossible given limited resources, Carpenter said.

Persinger said he chose May 2009 because the Community Mental Health Centers were relatively well-funded and could see people needing help within a reasonable time. Now, the centers struggle to find providers, and the state as a whole lacks resources to assist people who have mental illnesses with finding transportation, housing and jobs, he said.

“I can find a psychiatrist. I can’t pay for them. They don’t earn back enough in fees,” he said. “The issue isn’t the lack of available people. It’s about finding them and getting them to stay and paying them enough. There a lot of other, more attractive places to go” than Kansas.

Rick Cagan, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Kansas, said the state needs to improve its inpatient care. It also should explore peer-run respite facilities, which have been successful in other states, he said. Respite facilities are run by people who also experience mental illness, and can provide a low-stress environment for people who are dealing with a flare-up in their symptoms but who don’t need hospital care.

“I think (respite facilities) would be a wonderful return on investment,” he said. “More public-private partnerships are what we’re shooting for so individuals can be hospitalized, if necessary, closer to home.”

Amy Campbell, director of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, said the state needs to fund wrap-around services, because they decrease the likelihood a person will end up in jail or the state hospital, and offer incentives for people to go into mental health careers. She suggested the state also should continue investing in short-term crisis facilities like RSI, a small stabilization center operating in the former Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City.

“They don’t have as many repeat customers coming back in crisis” after a stay at RSI, she said. “It’s sort of the low-hanging fruit, something you know that works.”

Campbell objected strongly, however, when Kelly Ludlum, deputy secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, said the department expects the crisis facilities to eventually become at least partially financially independent. Most people seeking crisis services don’t have Medicaid or private insurance, meaning the facility doesn’t have any way to collect payment for services provided to them, Campbell said.

“If the state is not going to have an ongoing role in the existence of these entities, then just forget it. These are not profit-making facilities,” she said. “I’m not saying the state has to pay all the costs. The state has to help that (type of facility) survive.”

Photo by Andy MarsoTim Keck, the interim secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, speaks at a mental health rally Tuesday. Keck told the crowd that Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City, Kansas, should be a model for continuum of care reforms.

View larger photo

About 200 people attended a rally hosted by mental health advocates earlier in the day. At the rally, KDADS secretary Tim Keck said the Rainbow transition could serve as a model for other communities. He also said the state is working to improve staffing at its two struggling psychiatric hospitals and he expects the one in Osawatomie to be recertified by the federal government soon.

But Keck acknowledged that challenges remain.

“Our current system is stretched beyond its capacity,” Keck said.

Starting toward solutions

Carpenter said he intends for the committee to consider the advocates’ priorities and the other priorities from the Continuum of Care report as soon as its schedule allows. Its task will be to build a consensus that it can promote in a difficult budget year, he said.

“I want to come out of here with a statement from this committee on mental health and where we can head that we can sell to the rest of our legislative friends,” he said.

The state already is spending to treat people in the psychiatric hospitals and to house them in jail, Carpenter said, so the committee needs to come up with a consensus on how the state could save money long-term by investing in other areas of the mental health system. Most people are affected either directly or indirectly by mental health and substance abuse disorders, making it an issue the state needs to address now, he said.

“This problem is there, it’s real and it’s being lived throughout our state,” he said. “I know we don’t have the resources, but we can’t just sit here and throw up our hands and say ‘We don’t have the resources.’”

The issue isn’t the lack of available people. It’s about finding them and getting them to stay and paying them enough."
- Bill Persinger, CEO of Valeo Behavioral Health Care

Cagan said he wasn’t under any illusions the issues could be fixed quickly. The state needs a 10-year plan to begin reshaping its mental health system, he said, and may need to look even further into the future.

“It’s a huge amount of gaps in our system. We can’t do them all at once. But we need a plan,” he said.

Persinger said he sees one clear advantage in trying to improve mental health care in Kansas now: people who weren’t interested before are paying attention.

“For one of the first times in my career, people want to talk about mental health other than when it affects their family,” he said.

Checkoff could fund mental health programs

The Senate Assessment and Taxation committee heard about one option to raise more funds for mental health programs on Tuesday, though it almost certainly would fall far short of what would be needed for system-wide changes.

Senate Bill 447 would allow people to donate money while filing their state tax return to a fund for grants to raise awareness and reduce stigma related to mental illness and substance abuse. The Department of Revenue would deposit money into a specific fund, which the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services could use to fund the grants.

Kansas currently allows people to choose from several funds on their tax return, including Meals on Wheels, habitat preservation for threatened species and breast cancer research.

Kelly Ludlum, deputy secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, said donated funds would be used for grants. The department would have to see how much money was donated and what proposals from community groups would maximize those funds before deciding how to distribute it, she said.

“Generally, prevention offers more bang for the buck,” she said.

One particular area of need is suicide prevention, Ludlum said. KDADS currently doesn’t fund any programs focused on the signs a person is contemplating suicide or how to get help. In 2014, 454 people in Kansas died by suicide, making it the 10th-leading cause of death overall and the second-leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 24.

Colin Thomasset, associate director for the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, said the association supports the bill, but would like to see it cover grants for treatment.

“We feel that this might be an oversight in the bill, as allowable programs involve awareness, prevention and stigma reduction – all very worthy aspects that can use more money,” he said. “However, it is also important to note that investing in community-based mental health services directly lowers healthcare costs.”

Campbell agreed that treatment should be added to the list of possible uses of the grant funds. Implementing the checkoff would be a positive step, she said, but it won’t solve the state mental health system’s problems on its own.

“The legislature should commit to close gaps in the continuum of care, and this could be a starting place,” she said. “447 won’t solve all of our problems in the mental health system, but it would be one more tool in the toolbox.”

The nonprofit KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute and a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor reporting collaboration. All stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online.

- See more at: http://www.khi.org/news/article/mental-health-rally-highlights-continuum-of-care-reform#sthash.QhRXnhCn.dpuf

Mental Health Advocates Rally for a Robust Mental Health System - WIBW

Amy Campbell — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 18:35:09 GMT

http://www.wibw.com/content/news/Mental-health-advocates-rally-for-a-robust-mental-health-system-372134092.html

Mental Health Advocates Rally for a Robust Mental Health System

By Lindsay Sax |

Posted: Tue 1:02 PM, Mar 15, 2016

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW)- Mental health advocates from across the state convened at the Statehouse to raise awareness that support services are important to Kansas communities.

The Kansas Mental Health Coalition is sponsoring Tuesday’s event. It started with more than 350 members of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, advocates, patients and supports at an advocacy rally on the south side of the Statehouse.

“Our biggest fears in the state of Kansas is that we will have continues erosion of the both outpatient and inpatient mental health services,” said Susan Crain Lewis, president, Kansas Mental Health Coalition.

Crain Lewis says that the cuts in mental health funding will leave patients needing help without care.

“When those services are not available those individuals that end up in crisis, they end up on our streets, they end up in our jails, they end up in our emergency rooms; none of the places are they getting treatment,” she said.

In the afternoon Crain Lewis says that an informational hearing on the Adult Continuum of Care Report will be held. She says it is a step in the right direction discussing what a robust, effective mental health delivery system looks like.

KDHE, KDADS Schedule Public Forums on HCBS Waiver Integration Project

Amy Campbell — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 03:57:44 GMT

August 10, 2015 For more information, contact:
Angela de Rocha, Director of Communications
Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services
785-806-7482

TOPEKA – Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Secretary Dr. Susan Mosier and Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Secretary Kari Bruffett announced today a series of public forums to discuss integration of the state’s home- and community-based Medicaid waiver programs.

The forums are scheduled to be conducted in Topeka, Wichita, Kansas City, Coffeyville and Garden City. The agencies also plan to conduct one or more teleconference calls to discuss waiver integration, which will be announced at a later date.

“Our goal is to speak to Kansans receiving HCBS services to understand and address their frustrations with the current waiver system,” Dr. Mosier said. “These forums will provide Kansans who are on HCBS waivers and their families the opportunity to give input about how the waivers work for them.”

KDADS administers seven individual home- and community-based services Medicaid waivers for individuals with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injury and autism, those with a need for technology assistance, youth with a serious emotional disturbance and the frail elderly. There are a specific list of services provide under each individual waiver.

“A new 1115 waiver would allow us to establish an integrated set of services that would be available to all waiver recipients regardless of the waiver in which they are enrolled,” Secretary Bruffett said. “We want to move toward a system that no longer defines individuals by a specific disability, but rather by their needs and capabilities. CMS approval of a new Kansas 1115 Medicaid waiver would give us the ability to provide the right services to individuals regardless of their disability definition.”

Participants may RSVP for these public meetings at the following link:

http://www.kdads.ks.gov/commissions/csp/home-community-based-services-(hcbs)/hcbs-current-news

Details of the forums are as follows:

Tuesday, August 25
Topeka Capitol Plaza Hotel
1717 SW Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, KS
10:30 am-12 pm
2-3:30 pm
5:30-7 pm

Wednesday, August 26
Kansas City Hilton Garden Inn
520 Minnesota Ave.
Kansas City, KS
10-11:30 am
2-3:30 pm
5:30-7 pm

Wednesday, August 26
Wichita Marriott
9100 Corporate Hills Drive
Wichita, KS
10-11:30 am
2-3:30 pm
5:30-7 pm

Thursday, August 27
Coffeyville Sleep Inn & Suite
202 W 11^th Street
Coffeyville, KS
10-11:30 am
2-3:30 pm

Thursday, August 27
Garden City Clarion Inn
1911 E Kansas Ave
Garden City, KS
10-11:30 am
2-3:30 pm

If a person with a disability needs a reasonable accommodation to participate in the call they should contact Laura Leistra at 785.296.4980 or by email atLaura.Leistra@kdads.ks.gov by Friday, August 21.

KMHC Endorses Adult Continuum of Care Committee Report

Amy Campbell — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 20:59:26 GMT

The Adult Continuum of Care Committee Report puts a finer point on the issue that many Kansas families already know – the Kansas mental health system is scrambling to meet the needs of Kansans with mental illness and substance use disorders. The Kansas Mental Health Coalition endorses the report, and hopes the strategies suggested in the report will help the Department on Aging and Disability Services to build on its recent work – bringing together Kansas City area stakeholders to form Rainbow Services Inc. and providing grant funds to Sedgwick County to create crisis services there. There is more to be done.

This summer, the further reduction of state mental health hospital beds has made the gaps in our continuum of care obvious. The State and the community mental health centers have partnered to respond to the growing need, but financial and staff resources are in short supply. The lack of appropriate, more intensive treatment options at the community level for people needing a higher level of treatment or a step down from hospitalization has been a barrier. Where you live determines your opportunities for recovery, and even in the Kansas City region it is uncertain whether the model crisis and referral program at Rainbow is sustainable. As stated in the report: “An underfunded system is challenged to meet the basic needs of people with severe mental illness, let alone develop evidenced based practices, enhance existing services, or create needed alternatives of care.”

We hope the Report will stimulate broader support for further community level investments and strategies targeted to improving the continuum. The Report advocates expanding access to crisis services, residential programs, housing and peer programs, in addition to boosting community based outpatient programs. The Committee also encourages improved transitions between facilities and communities, with treatment provided while people await admissions and after discharge.

In the short term, Kansas should apply for federal resources such as the Excellence in Mental Health Act, endorse change to the federal IMD Exclusion that prevents Medicaid reimbursement for some residential psychiatric treatment, and re-open the 60 beds at Osawatomie State Hospital as soon as practically possible. (The beds are currently unavailable while safety repairs are made.)

The Kansas Mental Health Coalition will review the report at its August meeting and is prepared to advocate for action to expand access to quality treatment for more Kansans. One thing is certain, when we do not treat persons with mental illness, communities pay the price. Individuals pay the price. People are all too often caught in an unending cycle of repeated hospitalizations or incarceration and the costs are more than fiscal, they include broken families, broken people and the loss of life itself.

Adult Continuum of Care Committee submits report to Secretary Bruffett

Amy Campbell — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 15:07:55 GMT

The Adult Continuum of Care Committee met for 9 weeks this summer to develop a report advising Secretary Kari Bruffett, Kansas Department on Aging and Disability Services, of recommended strategies to improve the behavioral health continuum. The Committee was created by the Secretary as the agency faced a remodeling project ordered by CMS at the Osawatomie State Hospital that takes 60 hospital beds out of operation for the summer.

Read the Report.

Read the Adult Continuum of Care Committee Charter.

KANSAS' LONGEST LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDS JUNE 12

Amy Campbell — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 19:36:51 GMT

June 12 2015 – Friday – marked the end of the 2015 Legislative Session. It was the longest legislative session in Kansas history at 113 days. The Legislature will return on Friday, June 26 for sine die – the procedural “last day”. Legislators will have to take a vote on Friday, to correct an inconsistency in the final tax legislation.

Most of those who live and work daily with the Legislature would mark this session as a painful one. The choices that were left on the table at the end were not what anyone would have wanted – passing the largest tax increase in Kansas history, when measured in terms of overall revenue at $385 million. And, although Governor Brownback is painting the final tax legislation as consistent with the objectives of the “path to zero” income tax experiment, the Republicans who dominate the Kansas Legislature’s majority are hoping mightily that their efforts will have been enough to balance the budget for at least two years. Some advisors have indicated that a least two elements of the revenue package are not reliable, and if the taxation of LLC guaranteed payments does not raise $23.7 m and the tax amnesty plan does not raise $30 m, legislators may have to raise taxes again next year. That is something they will need to avoid, and hope that the voters won’t remember this session when they cast their votes in November 2016.

THE BUDGET

SB 112 is the mega-budget bill that had been agreed – for the most part – early in May by the conference committee and was ultimately adopted. Read the conference committee report description here. It was further amended by the budget conference committee to include most of the Governor’s Budget Amendments and a few omnibus adjustments.

For behavioral health, the Governor’s budget cuts to state general funds stand – resulting in reduced contracts for a variety of programs including Keys for Networking, NAMI, Kansas Family Partnership, CROs, CAC and others. On the other hand, there is the revolving loan fund – investing the income from the sale of Rainbow Hospital building into crisis/hospital diversion services, a $500,000 addition to OSH, $3.4 m supplement to care for people diverted from OSH during the renovations this summer, and the continuation of the Governor’s mental health initiative grants from last year.

It was a risky plan – to hold over the mega-budget agreement until the veto session and attempt to push it through without further major adjustments. The Governor and administration officials wanted to keep the budget as agreed during the regular session and avoid deeper cuts into the agencies. The Governor had promised K-12 and Regents Universities that no further reductions would be made. But for many legislators, the 4% state general fund cuts, the transfers of fee fund balances and reductions to existing programs already contained in the budget were forgotten in the months since the regular session. Many were pushing for deeper reductions to state spending rather than voting for any kind of tax increases. Estimates varied, but an additional 6.2% across the board state general fund cut was promoted as a way to close the $406 million gap and avoid tax increases altogether. “Kansas doesn’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem,” was the quote often heard as the House and Senate each debated and rejected multiple variations of HB 2109 and SB 270 – the tax bills.

The threat level was increased in the first week of June, as Shawn Sullivan, Budget Director, warned legislators that the state might have to lay off thousands of state employees if the budget bill was not adopted soon. The House moved forward and adopted H Sub for SB 112 with no debate on June 3. The Senate, however, would not debate the budget bill until it had approved a revenue package. Saturday, June 6, the House and Senate quickly adopted a brief change to Kansas statute to prevent state employee furloughs. The temporary fix in SB 11 classifies all state employees as “essential” for the balance of the month of June. This prevents the furlough of 24,000 state employees deemed “nonessential” who received notices on Friday. Read KHI article.

Sunday, June 7, after passing the conference committee report on S Sub for HB 2109, the revenue package – raising $406 million revenue in this version – the Senate adopted H Sub for SB 112, the major budget bill of the 2015 legislative session. Although many hoped the Senate action would lead to House approval the next day – and adjournment, it would be five more days (and two more very late nights) before the veto session would end.

To form the state budget for FY 15, FY 16 and FY 17, in addition to H Sub for SB 112, the Legislature passed a rescission bill (further reducing the FY 15 budget early in the session), a Judiciary budget bill, and the K-12 block grant funding bill.

THE REVENUE PACKAGE

The final tax package is a combination of S Sub for HB 2109 as adopted by the Senate on June 7 and the tax trailer bill H Sub for SB 270 – which was written to amend HB 2109 in order to gain passage in the House. A third piece of the puzzle is the modified fee plan for managed care organizations proposed by the Governor’s original budget, which brings in $47.8 million by drawing federal funds into the Medicaid program.

Multiple combinations of revenue ideas were put forward, debated and ultimately voted up or down in the last 23 days of the session. In some ways, the development of the revenue package was one of the most democratic processes we have seen in the Legislature for some time. The Senate debated its tax bill for several days, with multiple amendments considered, before putting HB 2109 into conference committee. Once in conference, it took five conference committee reports to find a plan that was not rejected by one chamber or the other. This meant multiple floor debates in each chamber discussing the options.

The final tax package includes:

- State Sales Tax Increase from 6.15% to 6.5% ($164 m) (H 2109 as passed by the Senate increased to 6.55%)
- Increases cigarette taxes 50 cents per pack ($40 m)
- Amends the 2012 tax exemption for LLCs to tax “guaranteed payments” ($23.7 m)
- Reduces itemized income tax deductions ($97 m)
- Creates tax amnesty program for delinquent tax payments ($30 m)
- Freezes income tax rates that are scheduled to decrease ($26.4 m)
- Raises $384.7 million for FY 16 (H 2109 as passed by the Senate would have raised $406 m)
- Requires the Governor to cut an additional $50 million to reach an ending balance of $86 million for FY 16 (We do not know where these cuts will occur, although a significant portion is likely to come from IT.)
- Eliminates income taxes for the state’s 388,000 lowest income tax paying citizens in FY 17
- Sets a 2.5% limit for revenue growth – triggering income tax rate reductions whenever revenue exceeds the limit (H 2109 as passed by the Senate included 3% limit)
- Maintains the current food sales tax rebate (H 2109 as passed by the Senate repealed the rebate, but reduced the sales tax rate on food to 4.95%. Legislators hope that reducing food sales tax rates can be achieved in a future session.)

When the Senate approved S Sub for HB 2109 on June 7, it included two very controversial sections. First, the sunset of numerous sales tax exemption statutes by 2018 – with a committee created to review and recommend whether or not those exemptions should remain in law. This provision caused great concern for hospitals, non-profits and others. The section was dropped from the final package, but the Legislature plans to spend time next session reviewing sales tax exemptions for possible repeal. This exercise has been done in the past, without successfully reforming the exemption statutes in the way that proponents would like to see.

Second, a property tax lid provision that would require a public vote whenever local governments raised property taxes beyond a certain rate. The final package loosens the restrictions, allowing for increases based on rate of inflation, infrastructure, road construction, bonds and interest, state and federal mandates, etc.

At the end, there was a joint meeting of House and Senate Republicans where the Governor’s staff threatened terrible budget cuts within 3 days. Legislative leaders urged the caucus to make the very difficult votes needed to end the session. Democrats and moderate Republicans held firm, unwilling to go on the record voting for any tax increases – most stating that they would not help to solve the budget problems they believe were caused by the income tax cuts of 2012 and 2013. This meant that the Republican conservatives were then fragmented into smaller contingents, mostly including what could be called the center right and the ultra-conservatives. It was these groups that had to forge a compromise to adopt a revenue plan in order to balance the budget. But for some to move away from their anti-taxation principles was extremely difficult, and there were rifts created and relationships marred. The lessons of the 2010 and 2012 elections were quite clear – with groups such as the Kansas Chamber, Americans for Prosperity, and the Kansas Policy Institute raining postcards into legislative races against those deemed as “tax and spend” politicians. It will be interesting to see how many conservative Republicans will have to pay a similar price in 2016 for voting for the 2015 tax increases – being touted as the largest tax increase in Kansas history.

Read KHI Article: Why the Legislature is Struggling to Pass a Tax Plan.

Legislature Creates Medicaid Mental Health Medications Advisory Committee to form policies to manage Medicaid Formulary for behavioral health

Amy Campbell — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 23:39:13 GMT

The Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment will soon convene an advisory committee to create recommendations for managing behavioral health medications in Medicaid. The committee is created by HB 2149, signed by Governor Brownback on May 15. The conference committee report also includes other Medicaid policy provisions. Read a description of the bill here.

HB 2149 was originally a bill to provide for Medicaid coverage of donor breast milk. The Senate added the provisions of SB 181 - creating an expedited process for newly introduced prescription medications. The Senate also inserted a new plan for instituting management of mental health medications in Medicaid through a specialized advisory committee. This advisory committee was proposed after SB 123 was defeated by the Senate. Senators agreed with advocates that SB 123 went too far by deleting the statutes that exempt mental health medications from prior authorizations or other drug management restrictions.

The bill allows prior authorization or other restrictions on medications used to treat mental illness to be imposed on Medicaid recipients for medications subject to guidelines developed by the Board in accordance with provisions of the bill; establishes instances not to be construed as restrictions; provides for the development of guidelines; establishes requirements for Board review of medications used to treat mental illness available for use before and after July 1, 2015; and creates a Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee (Committee), outlining Committee membership and appointments, meeting frequency, and member compensation.

Advocates view the new provisions as a better option than SB 123 - which would have simply deleted the statutory exemption from Medicaid management for MH drugs. SB 123 was defeated by the Senate. Read more about this issue.

The section of the bill regarding approval of new prescription medications (SB 181) amends the procedures regarding restrictions of patients’ access to any new prescription-only drug under the Kansas Medicaid Program and would establish meeting requirements for the Medicaid Drug Utilization Review Board (Board).

REPRESENTATIVES ASK SENATE TO PREVENT STATE GOVERNMENT FURLOUGHS

Amy Campbell — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 16:00:28 GMT

As posted at www.kshouserepublicans.com Friday, June 5th, 2015 @ 9:08AM

TOPEKA–House leaders and House Republican legislators on Friday implored the Kansas Senate to pass the conference committee report on the state budget without delay to prevent state government furloughs.

The House passed the budget on Wednesday. Without Senate approval and a signature from Governor Brownback, non-essential state government workers in the executive branch will be furloughed beginning Monday.

“There is no time to waste. Kansans expect state government to be there for them when they need it, and state workers who provide valuable services should not have to endure furloughs because the Senate stalled on taking up the budget,” said House Speaker Ray Merrick (R-Stilwell). “While some parts of this process were unavoidably delayed, this budget plan was constructed over the course of months and the time to act is now.”

Meanwhile, tax negotiations in order to fill the roughly $348 million hole in the budget the House approved are ongoing.

“The unfortunate reality is that revenues will be raised this year because we made a commitment to K-12 schools not to cut their funding and we kept that promise with the budget we passed,” said House Majority Leader Jene Vickrey (R-Louisburg). “We scoured the other half of the budget for savings and we implemented them. Now we are going to find a tax compromise and get it passed.”

The budget passed by the House represents a 2.3 percent increase in FY 16 over the current fiscal year, and a .47 percent increase in FY 17. The slight increases represent funding for K-12 education, KPERS, and social services caseloads. The budget keeps Regents’ funding steady, and also includes a tuition freeze limited to the 2 percent over the rate of inflation. It also includes $3 million to fund an efficiency study that will identify further savings in state government to ensure the most effective use of taxpayer dollars. It imposes a 25 percent reduction on executive branch travel, as well as reduced subscriptions and advertising expenditures for agencies, in addition to other efficiencies.

“I applaud Senate President Susan Wagle in her efforts to push this process forward, and ask Senate Majority Leader Bruce to join her in the movement to debate and pass the budget we sent them,” said House Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast (R-Emporia).

Representatives who voted yes on the budget conference committee report and join with leadership in calling on the Senate to pass it as soon as possible include:

Rep. Bud Estes (R-Dodge City); Rep. Mike Houser (R-Columbus); Rep. James Todd (R-Overland Park); Rep. Jack Thimesch (R-Cunningham); Rep Gene Suellentrop (R-Wichita); Rep. Keith Esau (R-Olathe); Rep Lane Hemsley (R-Topeka); Rep. Becky Hutchins (R-Holton); Rep. Steven Johnson (R-Assaria); John Ewy (R-Jetmore); Rep. Sharon Schwartz (R-Washington); Rep. Kyle Hoffman (R-Coldwater); Rep. Mark Hutton (R-Wichita); Rep. Dan Hawkins (R-Wichita); Rep. Ron Highland (R-Wamego); Rep. Kent Thompson (R-Iola); Rep. Randy Powell (R-Olathe); Rep. Steve Alford (R-Ulysses); Rep. Steve Anthimides (R-Wichita); Rep. John Barker (R-Abilene); Rep. Tony Barton (R-Leavenworth); Rep. Rick Billinger (R-Goodland); Rep. Troy Waymaster (R-Bunker Hill); Rep. Sue Boldra (R-Hays); Rep. Kristey Williams (R-Augusta); Rep. John Whitmer (R-Wichita); Rep. Chuck Smith (R-Pittsburg); Rep. Joe Seiwert (R-Pretty Prairie); Rep. Scott Schwab (R-Olathe); Rep. Steve Brunk (R-Wichita); Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady (R-Palco); Rep. Larry Campbell (R-Olathe); Rep. Blake Carpenter (R-Derby); Rep. Will Carpenter (R-El Dorado); Rep. Susan Concannon(R-Beloit); Rep. Ken Corbet (R-Topeka); Rep. Erin Davis (R-Olathe); Rep. Willie Dove (R-Bonner Springs); Rep. Dick Jones (R-Topeka); Rep. Jim Kelly (R-Independence); Rep. Jerry Lunn (R-Overland Park); Rep. Charles Macheers (R-Shawnee); Rep. Les Mason (R-McPherson); Rep. Les Osterman (R-Wichita); Rep. Jan Pauls (R-Hutchinson); Rep. Richard Proehl (R-Parsons); Rep. Marty Read (R-Mound City); Rep. Marc Rhoades (Newton); Rep. Ron Ryckman Sr. (R-Meade); Don Schroeder (R-Inman); Dennis Hedke (R-Wichita).

House Defeats Initial Tax Conference Committee Plan: 3 to 108

Amy Campbell — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 21:18:18 GMT

The proposal was as follows:

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT BRIEF SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 270

As Agreed to June 4, 2015 Brief – excerpt from www.kslegislature.org

Senate Sub. for SB 270 would make a number of changes in law regarding individual income tax, sales and compensating use tax provisions, motor vehicle registration and taxes, fire district taxation, and taxes on cigarettes, and would enact a tax amnesty for a number of tax sources. Amnesty Provisions The bill would authorize a tax amnesty for penalties and interest relative to certain delinquent taxes provided such taxes are paid in full from September 1, 2015, to October 15, 2015. The amnesty would apply to privilege, income, estate, cigarette, tobacco products, liquor enforcement, liquor drink, severance, state sales, state use, local sales, and local use taxes. The amnesty would be limited to penalties and interest applied to liabilities associated with tax periods ending on or before December 31, 2013. The amnesty would not apply to any matter for which, on or after September 1, 2015, taxpayers have received notices of assessment or for which an audit had previously been initiated. Any fraud or intentional misrepresentation in connection with an amnesty application would void the application and waiver of any penalties and interest.

Individual Income Tax Provisions Guaranteed Payments - The bill would revise an income tax subtraction modification for certain pass-through non-wage business income to require that guaranteed payments from businesses are counted as income in determining Kansas adjusted gross income. Rate Freeze Individual income tax rate reductions scheduled for future years would be decelerated. The tax year 2015 rates of 2.7 percent for the bottom tax bracket and 4.6 percent for the top tax bracket would become the tax rates through tax year 2018. The tax year 2019 rates would be 2.4 percent and 4.5 percent. The tax rates for tax year 2020 and all tax years thereafter would be 2.3 percent and 4.3 percent. A provision that could provide future formulaic income tax rate relief under certain circumstances, based on the extent to which revenue from a specified group of State General Fund (SGF) tax sources has increased over the previous fiscal year, would be repealed.

Low Income Tax Exclusion - The bill would provide that individual taxpayers with taxable income of $5,000 or less and married taxpayers filing jointly with taxable income of $12,500 or less would have no income tax liability beginning in tax year 2017. Itemized Deductions

Modification Acceleration - A number of changes would be enacted for Kansas itemized deductions retroactive to January 1 (the start of tax year 2015). With the exception of charitable contributions, mortgage interest, and property taxes paid, all Kansas itemized deductions would be repealed. The current changes in the percentage that could be deducted (“haircuts”) being phased in for mortgage interest and property taxes paid relative to the amount that otherwise is allowed for federal income tax purposes would be accelerated such that the final 50 percent haircut currently scheduled for tax year 2017 would be effective immediately. (Charitable contributions would remain fully deductible for Kansas taxpayers able to itemize at the state level, as under current law.)

Individual Development Account Tax Credit - The bill would restore, effective for tax year 2015, a tax credit that previously had been available for certain individual development account (IDA) contributions. That credit had been discontinued beginning in tax year 2013, pursuant to repeal in 2012 legislation.

ROZ Program - The Rural Opportunity Zone (ROZ) program, which provides an income tax exemption for certain individuals who establish residency in selected counties, would be extended. The program, which is currently scheduled to sunset in tax year 2017, would be extended for two years and be scheduled to sunset in tax year 2019. (The ROZ program also authorizes the repayment of student loans by participating counties and the state under specific circumstances.)

Christmas Tree Net Gain - The bill would create a subtraction modification from federal adjusted gross income in calculating Kansas adjusted gross income for the net gain from the sale of Christmas trees.

Social Security Number Requirement - The bill would require an individual claiming a tax credit to have a valid Social Security number for the entire taxable year for which the tax credit is claimed.

Sales and Use Tax Provisions Sales and Use Tax Rates - The statewide sales tax and use tax rate would be increased from 6.15 percent to 6.65 percent on July 1, 2015. A second rate for purchases of food and food ingredients of 5.95 percent would become effective January 1, 2016.

Local Sales Tax Provisions - Additional provisions would authorize additional local sales tax authority for three counties—Thomas, Douglas, and Bourbon—for purposes of financing construction or remodeling of a courthouse, jail, law enforcement facility, or other county administrative facility. Thomas County would be granted an additional 0.5 percent authority, Douglas County would be granted an additional 0.5 percent authority, and Bourbon County would be granted additional authority of up to 1.0 percent.

Relative to this new authority, all counties also would have an exception to the normal countywide sales tax distribution formula, which otherwise requires that funds be shared with cities. Voter approval would be required prior to the implementation of the new tax authority for Thomas County and Douglas County. For Bourbon County, the result of a previously held election would be declared valid for the implementation of the new tax authority.

Cigarette Tax Provisions - The bill would increase the state’s cigarette tax by $0.50 per pack to $1.29 per pack beginning July 1, 2015. The bill also would establish an inventory tax for all cigarettes on hand as of July 1, 2015. The inventory tax would be $0.50 per pack for cigarettes on hand as of July 1, 2015. The inventory tax would be due on October 31, 2015.

Motor Vehicle Registration and Tax Provisions - The bill would require the Department of Revenue to mail a copy of the motor vehicle registration application to the owner of a motor vehicle, including all information required to enable the owner to register the vehicle and pay the tax by return mail.

Fire Districts - A final section of the bill would clarify the property tax levying authority of consolidated fire districts with respect to their authority to levy more than 15 mills.

Conference Committee Action

The second Conference Committee on June 4 agreed to amend the contents of House Substitute for SB 270, as amended by the House on Final Action, by changing the repeal of the ROZ program sunset to a two-year extension of the program and retaining its other tax provisions. The Conference Committee also agreed to add provisions related to individual income tax and guaranteed payments, rates, exclusions, itemized deductions, treatment of Christmas tree sale income, and Social Security number requirements for credits; statewide sales and use tax rates; cigarette taxes; and motor vehicle registration and tax provisions.

Background

The original bill would have made several changes to the Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program Act. The House Taxation Committee, on May 13, struck the bill’s original provisions; recommended a substitute bill be created; inserted various new provisions, including the tax amnesty provisions; and advanced the new substitute bill for further consideration without recommendation. The House Committee of the Whole, on May 15, adopted a minor technical amendment. On May 29, the House amended the bill on final action to remove the contents of the substitute bill, other than the amnesty provisions, and add the other provisions described above as being in the House Committee of the Whole version of the bill.

House Passes Budget with No Debate

Amy Campbell — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 18:51:19 GMT

June 3, 2015

Observers and many Representatives were stunned when the House of Representatives adopted House Sub for SB 112 with no debate with a vote of 64 to 48. The three minute action left some members wondering if there had been an intentional rush to avoid public debate. The House Majority Leader indicated that there were no lights on to indicate that members wanted to speak on the proposal.

This is truly surprising because the House never debated a mega-budget or omnibus budget on the floor this year. While the Appropriations Committee did develop a budget position in committee and did adopt many of the included positions (including adopting most of the Governor's Budget Amendments) - the committee bill was never brought above the line for debate in the House. Instead, the Senate adopted a mega-budget bill (crafted by the Senate Ways and Means Committee) prior to the April break and every adjustment since then has been simply inserted into the conference committee, including all post-April items that normally would take shape as an omnibus bill.

Many legislators believe that this was “as good as the budget would get” at this late date. The conference committee has also created another option – Senate Sub for HB 2135 would cut an additional 5.7% from all agencies. While there are some conservatives who would like a chance to vote for that proposal, it would create many problems if passed. For one thing, our Medicaid program (KanCare) is required to provide “maintenance of effort” according to federal requirements or incur penalties, meaning equal and/or more services and equal and/or expanded eligibility. A 5.7% cut would have to include provider reimbursement cuts and would reduce the federal funds for the program. The cut to K-12 Education would almost certainly draw the attention of the Kansas Supreme Court.

Read the conference committee report and a full explanation of the bill at

http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2015_16/measures/sb112/

Scroll below to the chart of “Bill History”. The bill copy and supplemental note at the top of the page describe the bill as originally passed – and NOT the mega-budget as agreed by the conference committee.

KDADS Issues Request for Information (RFI) for Adult Continuum of Care

Amy Campbell — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 16:35:08 GMT

Date: June 3, 2015

From: Aubrey Waters, Procurement Officer

Subject: Request for Information #EVT0003819

Closing July 10, 2015 2:00pm CST

Adult Continuum of Care Project

For Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services

The State of Kansas, Office of Procurements and Contracts posted the above referenced event. Your company was recommended as a potential interested party. You may download the RFI document and specifications from the following website. It is your responsibility to monitor this site for modifications to the event.

http://admin.ks.gov/offices/procurement-and-contracts/bid-solicitations

NOTE: Receipt of this notice should not be considered an official “invitation” to bid.

If you are interested in bidding on this transaction you MUST BE OFFICIALLY INVITED to

the event. Contact the person named above at least 24 HOURS BEFORE the official finish date and time to request the official invitation. Due to State of Kansas SMART Strategic Sourcing System requirements, any bidder with an interest in bidding on any State of Kansas SOURCING EVENT must officially request an invitation from the Procurement Officer (Event Contact) at least 24 hours before the Bid Event official finish date and time. If you fail to request such in a timely fashion, your response may be rejected in its entirety.

EXCEPTION: If you have received a Bid Event Document with your company’s name in the upper right hand corner of the document, your company has already been invited to the bid event. If you are not a registered bidder/vendor with the state of Kansas you must register as a bidder AND request official invitation at least 24 hours before the Bid Event official finish date and time. To register as a bidder visit our website:http://www.admin.ks.gov/offices/procurement-and-contracts

Thank you,

Aubrey Waters

Procurement Officer | Procurement & Contracts

Kansas Department of Administration

900 SW Jackson, Suite 451 South | Topeka, KS 66612

Phone: 785-296-2401 | Fax: 785-296-7240

aubrey.waters@da.ks.gov | www.admin.ks.gov/offices/procurement-and-contacts

Senate Tax Bill Contents and History

Amy Campbell — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 00:11:11 GMT

On June 2, the Senate voted 25-13 to pass a basic tax bill to get it into conference with the hope that the conference committee could bring out some tax packages that might get 21 Senate votes and 63 House votes. The House had already adopted House Sub for SB 270 - containing only "tax amnesty" - the prior week.

Senate Sub for HB 2109 does not raise enough revenue to solve the $406 million predicted budget deficit for FY 2016. It is worth noting that the budget bill as proposed by the Conference Committee Report on House Sub for SB 112 has around $400 million of one-time transfers and "fixes" in it. So, unless revenues increase, a bill raising $406 million may not protect current legislators from having to make difficult tax votes again next session - months before November 2016 elections.

Contents and History

HB 2109, as further amended by the Senate Committee of the Whole, would make a number of changes in individual income tax laws, sales and compensating use tax provisions, motor vehicle registration and taxation laws, and property tax laws, and would enact a tax amnesty for a number of tax sources.

Amnesty Provisions

The bill would authorize a tax amnesty for penalties and interest relative to certain delinquent taxes provided such taxes are paid in full from September 1, 2015, to October 15, 2015. The amnesty would apply to privilege, income, estate, cigarette, tobacco products, liquor enforcement, liquor drink, severance, state sales, state use, local sales, and local use taxes. The amnesty would be limited to penalties and interest applied to liabilities associated with tax periods ending on or before December 31, 2013. The amnesty would not apply to any matter for which, on or after September 1, 2015, taxpayers have received notices of assessment or for which an audit had previously been initiated. Any fraud or intentional misrepresentation in connection with an amnesty application would void the application and waiver of any penalties and interest.

Property Tax Provisions

The bill would prohibit cities and counties from adopting appropriations or budgets with revenues from certain increases in property taxes that exceed the rate of inflation until such resolutions proposing the increases have been approved at a regularly scheduled election. The bill would eliminate a property tax exemption for property used exclusively by the alumni association of any public or nonprofit Kansas college or university.

Motor Vehicle Registration and Tax Provisions

The bill would require the Department of Revenue to mail a copy of the motor vehicle registration application to the owner of a motor vehicle, including all information required to enable the owner to register the vehicle and pay the tax by return mail.

Sales Tax Provisions

The statewide sales tax and use tax rate for purchases of food and food ingredients would be reduced from 6.15 percent to 5.70 percent on January 1, 2016. Additional provisions of the bill would disallow all sales tax exemptions from applying to purchases made on behalf of any entity benefiting from a sales tax exemption. Only purchases made by the entity benefiting from the sales tax exemption would continue to be exempt from sales tax.

Individual Income Tax Provisions

Social Security Number Requirement - An additional provision would require an individual claiming a tax credit to have a valid Social Security number for the entire taxable year for which the tax credit is claimed.

Background

The original bill would have amended the Kansas Probate Code concerning transfer-on-death deeds. In a series of meetings beginning May 12, the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee struck the original provisions of HB 2109, recommended a substitute bill be created, inserted many of the other provisions described above and, on May 19, advanced the new substitute bill for further consideration, without recommendation.

Senate Committee of the Whole – May 27

The Senate Committee of the Whole, on May 27, amended the substitute bill to reduce the sales tax rate on food to 5.7 percent (the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee version had set the food rate at 6.0 percent); to remove a number of proposed changes in the motor vehicle tax that had been included in the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee version; to remove statutory disposition of revenue provisions that would have effectively produced an equivalent amount of receipts from the motor fuels tax increase for the State General Fund (SGF) at the expense of the State Highway Fund (SHF); to clarify that the payroll tax credit only applies relative to persons employed in Kansas; to reduce the proposed cigarette tax increase to 18 cents per pack (which had been 50 cents in the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee version) while earmarking $10.0 million of cigarette tax receipts for the newly created Tobacco Cessation Fund; and to make a minor technical amendment.

Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation – May 30

At a meeting at the rail on May 30, the Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation amended the bill to remove provisions making changes to individual income tax laws, sales and compensating use tax provisions, motor fuel taxes, and taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products and recommended the bill favorably for passage containing only the tax amnesty provisions.

Senate Committee of the Whole – May 31

On May 31, the Senate Committee of the Whole further amended the bill to add the following: the requirement that a taxpayer have a valid Social Security number for the entire tax year in which an individual income tax is claimed; the provision related to sales tax treatment for purchases made on behalf of an entity that would otherwise benefit from a sales tax exemption; the subtraction modification for the net gain from the sale of Christmas trees; the provision requiring the Department of Revenue to mail motor vehicle registration and tax documents; and the reduction of the sales and compensating use tax rate.

Senate Committee of the Whole – June 1

On June 1, the Senate Committee of the Whole further amended the bill to add the provision providing the low income tax exclusion.

Senate Committee of the Whole – June 2

On June 2, the Senate Committee of the Whole further amended the bill to add the provision requiring a vote at a regularly scheduled election for cities and counties to adopt budgets including certain property tax increases. Additional amendments removed a provision which would have provided an income tax exclusion to certain taxpayers and lowered the statewide sales and use tax for food to 5.7 percent beginning January 1, 2015.

Senate Committee of the Whole – June 3

On June 3, the Senate Committee of the Whole adopted a technical amendment to reconcile provisions contained in the bill. Fiscal Effect The Kansas Department of Revenue indicated the total amount of additional tax receipts collected as a result of the tax amnesty would be $36.088 million, $30.000 million of which would be deposited in the SGF, $2.471 million of which would be deposited in the SHF, and $3.618 million of which would be returned to local units levying sales and use taxes. Certain other provisions of the bill may have a small, but indeterminate, effect upon state and local receipts.

Conference Committee tee's up Budget Debate for House, Senate puts a Tax Bill into Conference

Amy Campbell — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 23:50:28 GMT

June 2 2015 – Tuesday

The day began with articles and social media quoting the Governor’s office regarding possible state employee furloughs and Senate leadership wanting to limit the day’s tax debate by voting to suspend the rules and not allow the Democrats to “divide the question” during the planned tax debate today.

Ultimately, Leadership is attempting to push a Senate tax bill into conference committee, while the budget conference committee tee’d up the debate on the mega-budget, House Sub for SB 112, in the House for Wednesday.

At their 1:30 p.m. session today the House adopted agree to disagree on SB 112 – new bill brought into budget conference committee in order to provide a Senate based vehicle for the budget. This is now the mega-budget bill. Once the Senate adopts an agree to disagree motion on SB 112, the conference committee will be able to adopt a conference committee report on SB 112 and move it forward for action in the House of Representatives.

Note that 112 was formerly a bill by Committee on Veterans, Military and Homeland Security - Expedited professional state credentialing for military service members and nonresident military spouses. 2048 moves from Corrections and Juvenile Justice CC to the Judiciary CC to replace 112.

At noon on Tuesday, the Budget Conference Committee created three budget options:

SB 112 is now the mega-budget bill that had been agreed – for the most part – early in May by the conference committee. There were also amendments made to a number of provisos relating to subscription cuts, reading program, regents, school block grant posting issue, pension obligation bonds, MCO insurer’s tax revenue, capturing unspent dollars in the education block grant extraordinary needs fund, and the fund for county reimbursements.

HB 2135 – was the mega-budget bill that passed the Senate late March – amended to include the mega-budget as agreed early in May by the conference committee – PLUS additional 2% executive agency cuts, but exempts K-12, Regents, state hospitals, public safety agencies.

HB 2010 – the “nuclear option” – includes the mega-budget bill as agreed early in May by the conference committee – PLUS additional 6% across the board cuts – no exemptions.

By mid-afternoon, the conference committee altered the options, with Senate Chairman Masterson moving to remove the 2% option, instead making HB 2135 an across the board 5.7% budget cut on top of the cuts within the mega-budget as agreed earlier. No agencies would be exempted from these cuts. HB 2010 is apparently out of consideration for now. The rumor is that Masterson wants to run the 5.7% option in the Senate, but others disagree.

The Senate adopted a tax bill Tuesday afternoon – Senate Sub for HB 2109.

The Senate debated tax policy for four days – in full debate on the floor – with no success. So, Senate Leadership brought forward a plan to move a base bill into conference.

Members adopted a controversial amendment from Senator Jacob LaTurner, establishing a property tax lid, requires public vote to increase property taxes by city or county. It passed 30-10, but local governments will be very opposed.

There was extended debate on the most consequential amendment (by Senator King). It would not bring the fiscal note of the bill fully in line with the $400 million revenue needed to fully fund the mega-budget as currently described in House Sub for SB 112, but would help get a tax bill into conference. The purpose is to put a conference-able bill into conference committee for three senators and three representatives to hash out. King’s comprehensive amendment includes taxpayer amnesty, Christmas tree, social security number requirement, Baumgardner Dept of Revenue amendment regarding letters to taxpayers, repeals the alumni association exemption and maintains LaTurner’s amendment.

The odd part of this discussion is that the House already passed House Sub for SB 270 last week – which only included the amnesty plan – anticipated to bring in $30 million. So, technically, there is already a “conference-able” bill. Either way, the conference committee would be creating a tax package that includes provisions, such as increasing sales tax or rolling back some of the income tax repeal for small businesses that are distasteful to numerous legislators. When voting on a conference committee report, it is either a yes or no - there is no longer an opportunity for amendments. So, members of the Senate protested this direction.

The final amendment – by Senator Francisco – reinserted the language to decrease the food sales tax rate to 5.7%.

The bill passed 25-13.

See similar article with bill description.

Grocers, child advocates await Legislature's next move on food sales tax - CJOnline article

Amy Campbell — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 19:27:06 GMT

http://cjonline.com/news/2015-06-02/grocers-child-advocates-await-legislatures-next-move-food-sales-tax

Grocers, child advocates await Legislature's next move on food sales tax:

Only one state, Mississippi, taxes food purchases at a higher rate

Posted: June 2, 2015 - 11:51am

Kansas already has the nation's second-highest sales tax for food, leaving grocers and child advocates wary of a potential increase as lawmakers wrangle with a $400 million budget gap.

By Justin Wingerter

justin.wingerter@cjonline.com

As the Kansas Legislature continues its prolonged search for a solution to the state's $400 million budget gap, grocers and child nutrition advocates are watching what happens to the state’s sales tax rate for unprepared food.

Most states and the District of Columbia don’t collect sales tax on food and many states that do offer a lower tax rate for food compared to other items. Kansas, however, currently taxes food at the same rate – 6.15 percent – as other consumer goods. Only Mississippi, with its 7 percent sales tax rate, places a higher state sales tax on food purchases than Kansas.

In a plan that didn’t pass the Kansas Senate on Monday, the sales tax rate on food would fall to 6 percent but not until six months after the overall sales tax rate was increased to 6.5 percent. On Saturday morning, Gov. Sam Brownback put forth a plan that would not create a separate sales tax rate for food, meaning the rate for food would increase to 6.5 percent.

Half of Kansas’ four neighboring states, Oklahoma and Missouri, tax unprepared food sales. Oklahoma’s tax rate is 4 percent while Missouri’s is 1.225 percent.

John McCormick, president and CEO of the Retail Grocers Association of Greater Kansas City, represents grocery stores in both Kansas and Missouri. McCormick says residents on Kansas’ northern and eastern borders often cross into Nebraska and Missouri for cheaper groceries.

“It’s just one more thing that could, and does, push people across the line,” McCormick said. “Gas is fairly cheap right now so they may drive across for cigarettes and liquor and while they’re there, they’re going to buy their groceries over there.”

McCormick said minor changes to the sales tax on food would create a lot of work for grocery store employees, who must electronically reset the rates each item is taxed at, while providing very few savings for consumers.

Shannon Cotsoradis, CEO of the Topeka-based nonprofit child advocacy group Kansas Action for Children, agrees.

“That’s not the kind of modification that’s really going to make a difference for struggling families,” Cotsoradis said.

Cotsoradis said the state’s comparatively high tax rate on food forces the state’s poorest families to decide between buying quality food and paying bills, such as rent and electricity. It also curbs the ability of low-income parents to buy nutritious food for their children, prompting them to purchase low-quality food in bulk instead, according to Cotsoradis.

Kansas City-based nonprofit group KC Healthy Kids points to a survey conducted last year by Fort Hays State University researchers which found 73.5 percent of the 2,203 Kansas adults surveyed supported eliminating the sales tax on food while 13.1 percent somewhat supported it.

“In addition to making healthy food more affordable for Kansans, cutting the food tax could help smaller and rural grocery businesses in the state by encouraging customers to shop in Kansas rather than in neighboring states with lower food taxes,” the group argues.

McCormick said he also supports eliminating the sales tax on food.

“I’m a proponent of zero taxes on unprepared food,” McCormick said. “That would help the lower-income wage earners.”

While Kansas Action for Children has supported eliminating the sales tax for food in the past, Cotsoradis said the group isn’t lobbying for it in the current political climate. Instead, she’s hoping lawmakers “hold the line” and ensure the rate isn’t increased.

A report released Monday by KC Healthy Kids and Wichita State University researchers found Kansas’ sales tax on food is regressive, hitting the budgets of low-income families and individuals significantly harder than middle- and upper-class consumers.

“For the case of a family of three living in a metropolitan area, we find that the incidence of taxing groceries is under 0.2 percent of household income for those with income greater than $150,000 per year, while it is over 5 percent of household income for those households with income less than $10,000 per year,” the researchers wrote.

Justin Wingerter can be reached at (785) 295-1100 or justin.wingerter@cjonline.com.
Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinWingerter.

Bill in Conference Committee to Create Medicaid Mental Health Medications Advisory Committee

Amy Campbell — Fri, 01 May 2015 16:22:05 GMT

Bill in Conference Committee to Create Medicaid Mental Health Medications Advisory Committee

Senate Sub for HB 2149 is currently in conference and expected to pass. HB 2149 was originally a bill to provide for Medicaid coverage of donor breast milk. The Senate added the provisions of SB 181 and a new plan for instituting management of mental health medications in Medicaid through a specialized advisory committee. The bill amends the procedures regarding restrictions of patients’ access to any new prescription-only drug under the Kansas Medicaid Program and would establish meeting requirements for the Medicaid Drug Utilization Review Board (Board).

Further, the bill would allow prior authorization or other restrictions on medications used to treat mental illness to be imposed on Medicaid recipients for medications subject to guidelines developed by the Board in accordance with provisions of the bill; establish instances not to be construed as restrictions; provide for the development of guidelines; establish requirements for Board review of medications used to treat mental illness available for use before and after July 1, 2015; and create a Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee (Committee), outlining Committee membership and appointments, meeting frequency, and member compensation.

Legislature Poised to Address Budget and Revenues

Amy Campbell — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 01:41:24 GMT

House Appropriations Apr 23-24, Senate Ways and Means Apr 28

The Consensus Revenue Estimating Group met April 20 and the report contained more bad news – forecasting $98.2 million reduced revenues for FY 16 and $100.8 million reduced revenues for FY 17. The current fiscal year estimates reduced revenues of $87.5 million – and increased adjustments of $244.5 million, mostly from the passage of the rescission bill in February. It is not clear where the $157 million difference will leave the overall budget for FY 15 – ending June 30. But the mega-budget bill will require further adjustments unless significant tax policy bills are moved forward.

Even with the Governor’s Allotments last Fall, the rescission bill H Sub for SB 4) addressed a $300 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2015 (ending in June) to prevent the state from defaulting on its financial obligations. The legislation included several transfers, cuts and delays in funding, including $158 million from the State Highway Trust Fund, $7.9 million in delayed payment to the Kansas Employment Retirement System and $7.1 million from the Job Creation Program Fund. The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 88-34. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 24-13 sending it to the Governor to sign into law on February 16.

Currently, Senate Sub for HB 2135 remains in conference committee – this is the 2015 Legislative Session’s Mega-Budget Bill. Only the Senate has passed a mega-budget bill this session, which puts the House of Representatives in the uncomfortable position of having to either concur with the version as it emerges from conference, or send it back for more work. There is no opportunity for floor amendments unless they move forward their own House bill. The House and Senate Conference Committee ended its negotiations with a tentative agreement, but did not move it to the floor for concurrence – choosing instead to hold it over to the Veto Session. It is likely that the late session budget adjustments that typically are passed in an Omnibus bill will simply be rolled into Senate Sub for HB 2135. As it stands, the bill spent about $16 million more than the Governor’s proposed budget – ending up around $141 million below revenue estimates.

The Appropriations Committee will meet this week and Senate Ways and Means will meet next week to cover the discussion of omnibus items. State Budget Director Shawn Sullivan indicated today that the Governor will be meeting with his staff this week to make recommendations for revenue enhancements. His policies for increasing tobacco and liquor taxes, as well as some income tax adjustments, have seen no action to date. Both bills had public hearings during the regular session.

House Appropriations Committee - Thursday April 23 beginning at 10:00 am and Friday April 24 beginning at 9 am in Room 112-N

Senate Ways and Means Committee - Tuesday April 28 beginning at 3 pm in Room 548-S

New Report: Allowing Medicaid Plans to Manage Pharmacy Benefits Leads to Cost-Savings for States

Amy Campbell — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 03:41:14 GMT

April 1, 2015 by Association of Health Insurance Plans

Contact:
Ben Jenkins

Washington, D.C. – States in which Medicaid plans manage prescription drug benefits are realizing large-scale savings, according to a new analysis by The Menges Group.

The study, “Comparison of Medicaid Pharmacy Costs and Usage in Carve-In Versus Carve-Out States,” examined 35 states and DC that used the Managed Care Organization (MCO) model in their Medicaid program and either included (carved-in) or excluded (carved-out) pharmacy benefits from coverage. The report found that carve-in states outperform carve-out states by a wide margin, saving Medicaid $2.06 billion in state and federal expenditures in 2014 alone.

With regard to significant cost savings in carve-in states, and in light of their better coordination of services, the authors conclude: “Our findings suggest that states that maintain prescription drugs as part of the MCO benefit are able to achieve cost savings while at the same time provide highly integrated care. The pharmacy carve-in model appears to resoundingly fulfill both objectives.”

Key findings of the report include:

Across 28 states using the carve-in model, the net cost per prescription was 14.6% lower than the average net cost per prescription in states not carving in pharmacy.
This 14.6% differential created a $2.06 billion net savings in state and federal expenditures in FFY2014 for states deploying the carve-in model.
The seven carve-out states had a 20% increase in net costs per prescription from FFY2011-FFY2014 -- in stark contrast to the 1% increase in net costs per prescription experienced by the 6 states that recently switched from a carve-out to a carve-in model.
The seven carve-out states “missed” a total of $307 million in savings in FFY2014 which would have occurred had they used a carve-in model.

“Medicaid plans’ ability to provide coordinated care through pharmacy benefits is crucial for beneficiaries and critical to protecting taxpayers and state budgets,” said America’s Health Insurance Plans President and CEO Karen Ignagni. “Allowing health plans to coordinate health and pharmacy benefits is essential for improving and maintaining the health of Medicaid beneficiaries and protecting limited state resources.”

To view the full analysis, click here.

For more information on how carving pharmacy into Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) benefits is critical for beneficiary outcomes, click here.

###

Senate Passes Sub for HB 2149 - Establishing Medicaid Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee, Allows for MH Drug Management

Amy Campbell — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 03:44:24 GMT

Senate Sub for HB 2149: Amended by Senate Public Health and Welfare March 17 to include new language designed to replace SB 123.

Senate debated and amended the bill March 23. Bill passed Senate 40-0 March 24.

Advocates knew that there would have to be another proposal brought forward in order to preserve the $6.5 million fiscal note, which is included in both the Senate and House budget bills.

Section 3: includes the provisions of SB 181, which had already passed the Senate:

Access to New Prescription-only Drugs under the Kansas Medicaid Program The Secretary of Health and Environment (Secretary) would be allowed to implement prior authorization of any new prescription-only drugs until such drugs are reviewed by the Board at its next scheduled meeting. During the period before the new drugs are reviewed by the Board, the drugs would be approved for use as indicated in package insert guidelines approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration and clinically reputable compendia, as approved by the Secretary in rules and regulations.

Under existing law, the Secretary is prohibited from restricting patient access to prescription-only drugs through a program of prior authorization or a restrictive formulary, except by rules and regulations. The current requirement that these proposed rules and regulations be submitted to the Board for written comment would be eliminated. Board Meeting Requirements The Board would be required to meet at least quarterly. The meetings would be open to the public and provide an opportunity for public comments. The Board would be required to post notice of its meetings at least 14 business days before the scheduled meetings.

Section 4: includes new proposal for managing mental health medications in Medicaid (replacing SB 123) Prior Authorizations or Other Restrictions on Mental Health Medications for Medicaid Recipients

The bill would provide that no requirements for prior authorizations or other restrictions on medications used to treat mental illnesses may be imposed on Medicaid recipients, except on medications subject to guidelines developed by the Board in accordance with provisions of the bill.

Existing law prohibits requirements for prior authorization or other restrictions on medications used to treat individuals with mental illnesses who are Medicaid recipients. Medications in the existing statute available without prior authorization or other restrictions include atypical medications, conventional antipsychotic medications, and other medications used for the treatment of mental illness

The bill specifies the following would not be construed as restrictions: ● Any alert to a pharmacist that does not deny the claim and can be overridden by the pharmacist; ● Prescriber education activities; or ● Consolidation of dosing regimens to equivalent doses.

Adoption of Guidelines and Medication Review The Committee would be required to provide the Board with recommendations for the development of guidelines. With regard to the recommendations from the Committee, the Board would have the following options: ● Accept the recommendations in whole, to become effective immediately upon approval; or ● Reject the recommendations in whole, requiring referral back to the Committee for further consideration.

The Board would be prohibited from adopting medication guidelines related to mental health medications without recommendations made by the Committee.

Prior to July 1, 2016, the Board would be required to review all medications used to treat mental illness available for use on July 1, 2015. The Board would be required to review all medications used to treat mental illness that do not exist on July 1, 2015, but are later developed or believed to be effective in the treatment of mental illness within six months of presentation to the Board.

Concept: Will the agency commit to:

1. Provide the same public notice as required for the DUR Committee?

2. Formalize language of the “guard rails” in the formal charter of the mental health medication advisory committee created by Senate Sub for HB 2149?

3. Begin process with informational briefings – including consumer/family input?

List of guard rails from the most recent workgroup meeting:

 Patients who are already on stable, safe regimens will be able to continue their prescribed treatment.

 Creation of a Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee made up of mental health practitioners and pharmacists with specific experience in providing service to the mental health community.

 Review certain medications for safety and dose optimization.

 New prescriptions or changes in medication will be subject to evidence-based guidelines developed by the Drug Utilization Review Board with the counsel of the Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee.

 Increase length of emergency prescription fills from 3 days to 5 days to allow for processing time in situations where prior authorizations are required and assure that these are paid to the pharmacies.

 Hold the number of prior authorizations needed to a minimum, while still providing for the appropriate protections.

 The three MCOs will be required to follow policies set by the state, and no changes to the current system will be allowed until such time that policies are put in place to assure minimal disruptions to providers and patients.

Bill Language:

Sec. 3. K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 39-7,120 is hereby amended to read as follows: 39-7,120. (a) The secretary of health and environment shall not restrict patient access to prescription-only drugs pursuant to a program of prior authorization or a restrictive formulary except by rules and regulations adopted in accordance with K.S.A. 75-5625, and amendments thereto.

Prior to the promulgation of any such rules and regulations, the secretary of health and environment shall submit such proposed rules and regulations to the medicaid drug utilization review board for written comment may implement prior authorization of any new prescription-only drugs until such drugs are reviewed by the medicaid drug utilization review board at the next scheduled meeting. New drugs shall be approved for use when such drugs are used within package insert guidelines approved by the federal food and drug administration and clinically reputable compendia, such as the United States pharmacopeia, as approved by the secretary of health and environment in the rules and regulations, during the period before such drugs are reviewed by the medicaid drug utilization review board.

The secretary of health and environment may not implement permanent prior authorization until 30 days after receipt of comments by the drug utilization review board.

(b) When considering recommendations from the medicaid drug utilization review board regarding the prior authorization of a drug, the secretary of health and environment shall consider the net economic impact of such prior authorization, including, but not limited to, the costs of specific drugs, rebates or discounts pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1396r-8, dispensing costs, dosing requirements and utilization of other drugs or other medicaid health care services which may be related to the prior authorization of such drug.

Sec. 4. K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 39-7,121b is hereby amended to read as follows: 39-7,121b.

(a) No requirements for prior authorization or other restrictions on medications used to treat mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder may be imposed on medicaid recipients. Medications that will be available under the state medicaid plan without restriction for persons with mental illnesses shall include atypical antipsychotic medications, conventional antipsychotic medications and other medications used for the treatment of mental illnesses., except on medications subject to guidelines developed by the drug utilization review board according to subsection

(c). None of the following shall be construed as restrictions under this subsection: (1) Any alert to a pharmacist that does not deny the claim and can be overridden by the pharmacist; (2) prescriber education activities; or (3) the consolidation of dosing regimens to equivalent doses and other such dose optimization policies.

(b) The mental health medication advisory committee shall provide recommendations to the drug utilization review board for the purpose of developing guidelines. The drug utilization review board may accept the recommendations of the mental health medication advisory committee in whole and such recommendations shall take effect immediately upon such approval. The drug utilization review board may reject the recommendations of the mental health medication advisory committee in whole and such recommendations shall be referred back to the mental health medication advisory committee for further consideration. No medication guidelines related to mental health medications shall be adopted by the drug utilization review board without recommendations made by the mental health medication advisory committee.

(c) For the medications used to treat mental illness that are available for use on July 1, 2015, the drug utilization review board shall review all such medications prior to July 1, 2016. For medications used to treat mental illness that do not exist on July 1, 2015, but are later developed or believed to be effective in the treatment of mental illness, the drug utilization board shall review all such medications within six months of presentation to the drug utilization review board.

(d) The mental health medication advisory committee is hereby established.

(1) The mental health medication advisory committee shall be appointed by the secretary of health and environment and consist of nine members; including the secretary of health and environment, or the secretary's designee, who shall be the chair of the committee; two persons licensed to practice medicine and surgery with board certification in psychiatry nominated by the Kansas psychiatric society, one of whom specializes in geriatric mental health; two persons licensed to practice medicine and surgery with board certification in psychiatry nominated by the association of community mental health centers of Kansas, one of whom specializes in pediatric mental health; two pharmacists nominated by the Kansas pharmacy association; one person licensed to practice medicine and surgery nominated by the Kansas medical society; and one advanced practice registered nurse engaged in a role of mental health nominated by the Kansas state nurses association.

All nominating bodies shall provide two nominees for each position for which they provide nominations, with the secretary selecting the appointee from the provided nominees.

(2) The mental health medication advisory committee shall meet upon the request of the chair of the mental health medication advisory committee, but shall meet at least one time each quarter.

(3) Members of the mental health medication advisory committee are entitled to compensation and expenses as provided in K.S.A. 75-3223, and amendments thereto. Members of the committee attending committee meetings shall be paid mileage and all other applicable expenses, provided such expenses are consistent with policies established by the secretary of health and environment.

Sec. 5. K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 39-7,119, 39-7,120 and 39-7,121b are hereby repealed. Sec. 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the statute book.

House Committee holds hearings on Medicaid Expansion

Amy Campbell — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 19:37:25 GMT

March 18th and 19th - the House Health and Human Services Committee hosted hearings on Medicaid Expansion - HB 2319. Each day, the committee room and hallway were packed with proponents and opponents to the bill. Many observers do not expect to see any action on Medicaid Expansion during the Veto Session. Currently, the bill has been referred to the Taxation Committee.

KMHC is cooperating with the Kansas Hospital Association and the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition to promote passage of HB 2319. Now is the time to weigh in with your legislators and the committee members.

Click Here to read HB 2319.

Click Here to contact House Health Committee Members. Click on the names.

Click Below to sign the petition to support Medicaid Expansion:

http://www.changekansas.org/action/petition/get-kansans-covered-expand-kancare-medicaid

More Information about Medicaid Expansion:

Appropriations passes Mega-Budget Bill

Amy Campbell — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 16:27:36 GMT

If you've been watching the news, you know that the Kansas Legislature has rushed through a bill to change the way that K-12 Education is funded in Kansas. The bill was introduced last week, inserted into a Senate Bill and passed by Appropriations, passed the full House by Friday, and the Senate voted to concur on Monday. The bill freezes the current school finance formula and provides for block grants to school district, allowing more flexible use of funds. It was highly controversial and many schools say it reduces their budgets. This has opened the way for the Legislature to begin working on its major budget bill for the session.

Yesterday and today, the House Appropriations Committee has been working through its Mega-Budget bill - combining the agency budget reports and adding amendments. Today, a proviso offered by Social Services Subcommittee Chair Will Carpenter was adopted to preserve funding for NAMI in the KDADS Budget within existing resources. The motion was seconded by Rep. Barbara Ballard. The proviso that has been lobbied by mental health advocates also included funding for Keys for Networking, which had been earmarked for consideration at Omnibus. Both NAMI and Keys for Networking have been notified that their contracts are ending and the funding will not be retained in its current structure in FY 16 and 17. New contracts will be made available under an integrated prevention block grant format, but these have not yet been defined and may or may not encompass the services provided by these organizations. Further advocacy will be needed to assure that the services are preserved and funded.

KMHC is watching this process closely - So far, there has been no effort to alter the Governor’s recommendation to add $1 million each year for FY 16 and FY 17 to expand behavioral health crisis and transitional services in the community. We are also supporting the Governor's recommendation to retain the $1.9 million from the sale of Rainbow, which KDADS proposes to invest in crisis and transitional services in the community through a revolving loan fund.

The Committee combined HB 2365 - Judiciary Budget and HB 2366 - Capitol Improvements Budget into HB 2370 the Mega-Budget Bill and passed it. The bill will probably be debated in the full House next week.

Seclusion and Restraint Bill awaits Vote

Amy Campbell — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 18:29:49 GMT

Last week, advocates testified in support of Sub. for HB 2170 before the Senate Education Committee. KMHC co-signed joint testimony supporting the bill - read here. The bill passed the House of Representatives 122-1.

The bill puts into statute rules for the use of seclusion and restraint and includes modifications recommended by the Kansas Association of School Boards. The language incorporates many of the 2012 recommendations from the United States Department of Education (USDE) and regulations/policy of the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE) in order to improve the current policy in Kansas and to better ensure the safety of children and teachers in public schools.

The USDE recommendations are minimal standards. The USDE acknowledges in its report that schools and states “may choose to exceed the framework set by the 15 principles” which make up its recommendations (see pages 12-13, “Restraint and Seclusion: A Resource Document,” USDE, 2012).
One key USDE recommendation the bill includes is standard of use for restraint and seclusion. The bill clarifies the currently nebulous standard by adding the USDE language of threat of “serious physical harm to self or others.”

Rocky Nichols, Disability Rights Center, has been coordinating this effort. He believes the language of the bill is a middle ground between what the advocates and parents would prefer and reasonable language for the schools to implement. The bill does not include all of the minimal standards and recommendations of the USDE report because it is a "fair compromise".

However, there may be some opposition to the current language. It is not clear when the bill will be worked by the Senate Education Committee.

Click here to contact members of the Senate Education Committee. Simply click on the names of committee members.

Committee proposes Medicaid Expansion Bill - CJOnline

Amy Campbell — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 19:31:53 GMT

Republican-controlled committee offers Medicaid expansion bill

Beneficiaries could be required to work, under proposal

Posted: February 9, 2015 - 10:37am By Jonathan Shorman jonathan.shorman@cjonline.com

A Republican-controlled House committee put forward legislation Monday to expand Medicaid in Kansas, offering a proposal that would use no state general funds but could require recipients to either work or volunteer.

The legislation expands the KanCare program – the state’s managed care program – to include individuals earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s the income threshold that will allow Kansas to receive additional federal funding to help pay for part of the cost of expansion.

The legislation sets out to help extend coverage to approximately 169,000 people, and collect about $2.2 billion federal funds between 2016 and 2020.

A number of moderate Republicans sit on the House Vision 2020 Committee, which put forward the bill after hearings on Medicaid expansion. The committee chairman, Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, said the legislation attempts to balance the “political realities” within the state through the a requirement in addition to financial realities.

“It balances the need to pay for this expanded service without going into the state general fund because there is no money there,” Sloan said.

Sloan said he hopes the bill is referred to a House Appropriations subcommittee that will keep the discussion going and the bill alive.

The proposal works by establishing a health care administrative support fee on hospitals, safety net clinics and other recipients of federal or state health care reimbursements to help pay for it.

The secretary of health and environment would also be tasked with creating a concierge-like statewide pilot program for KanCare beneficiaries and promoting tele-health monitoring for individuals with chronic conditions and individuals with disabilities.

The plan also calls for health care outcomes to be analyzed quarterly by the KU Medical Center to identifying the most successful patient treatment, monitoring and education programs in improving cost-effectiveness in terms of health outcomes.

In addition, the secretary would be allowed -- but not mandated -- to require a work component for ablebodies beneficiaries. The work could include volunteering.

Sloan said the bill directs the administration to seek any necessary federal waivers to allow the state to receive additional federal funding. Sloan said he has spoken with the federal Health and Human Services Administration about the plan. “They were very pleased that the Legislature is looking at expanding,” Sloan said.

Sean Gatewood with the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition indicated he is receptive to the proposal. Gatewood said he appreciated any opportunity that creates conversation about insuring more Kansans. He said he is still getting up to speed on all the details, but did express some concern about potential work requirements and how they would interact with federal regulations. “So I’ve got some questions as to if that would work, things like that. But any attempt I’m extremely grateful for. Getting a new bill in the hopper makes a good day for me,” Gatewood said.

The proposal comes after Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, introduced his own plan last month to expand Medicaid. The Democratic proposal is unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-dominated Legislature. Rep. Pam Curtis, D-Kansas City, is the ranki

Bill Introduced to Repeal Law Exempting Mental Health Medications from Medicaid Prior Authorization or Preferred Drug Lists

Amy Campbell — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 02:14:13 GMT

For years, mental health advocates have opposed managed care restrictions that could stand between mental health consumers and their preferred medications. This year, the state agency that oversees Kancare (Kansas' Medicaid program) is recommending the Kansas Legislature repeal the law that exempts mental health medications from prior authorizations or preferred drug lists.

A bill was introduced Thursday, Jan. 29th, in the Senate Public Health Committee to repeal the law that exempts mental health medications from prior authorizations or preferred drug lists. The language is not yet available but should be published soon.

Governor Brownback has made a mental health drug formulary part of his proposed budget. An article at KHI.org cites state officials estimate the repeal could save the Medicaid program more than $8 million - a surprising assessment since one of the most cited high cost medications will have a generic alternative in the next few months, whether or not the law is repealed.

Coalition members expressed their concerns about this proposal to Kari Bruffett, KDADS Secretary, at the January KMHC Meeting. The Secretary indicated an interest in receiving recommendations from Coalition members if an appropriate process can be identified. At this point, KDADS and KDHE are recommending the statute be repealed, citing the need to have full flexibility to implement prior authorization rules (PAs) and safety edits without any restrictions. It is unclear if a Preferred Drug List is intended. The Secretary also expressed an interest in deleting the prohibition for step therapy. In testimony to the Legislature, Secretary Mosier, KDHE, has indicated that they were not planning to change medications for individuals with chronic and persistent mental illness who are already on a successful medication plan. The rules for this exception would need to be developed. READ THE KHI ARTICLE.

State Opens Comment Period for Proposed Changes to SED Waiver, Autism Waiver and TA Waiver (HCBS Waivers)

Amy Campbell — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 01:51:41 GMT

The Kansas Department on Aging and Disability Services has announced proposed changes to three HCBS waiver programs and has opened a public comment period from 1/26/15 through 2/25/15. The final proposal is summarized in the linked document: HCBS Transition Plan and Proposed HCBS Program Changes and Request for Public Comments.

The final summary of the proposed changes in the HCBS renewals effects the following programs: Autism Technology Assisted (TA) Severe Emotional Disturbance (SED).

Public comment opportunities include meetings February 4th and 5th from 10-12 and 2-4 in Wichita and Topeka, teleconferencing, email, mail, and fax. See the document above.

SED Waiver changes includes: parents signature indicates their preferences were reflected in the Plan of Care, adding consumer's preferred outcomes to the Plan of Care, identifying less intrusive methods that were tried but not successful, adding a provision that - if there is a waiting list - eligible military families may bypass the waiting list, and significant added layers to the SED eligibility process.

The current process is that the Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) completes the functional assessment and determines if a consumer is clinically eligible for the SED waiver. In the proposed process the CMHC will complete the functional assessment and send the information to KDADS for the clinical determination. Once a consumer is found to be clinically eligible for the waiver the Department of Children and Family will assess if that consumer if financially eligible to be on the waiver. Once a consumer is found to be both clinically and financially eligible for the waiver the CMHC will develop the Plan of Care and submit it to the Managed Care Organization (MCO) for review and approval. After the Plan of Care is approved by the MCO the CMHC will provide the waiver services to the consumer.

Kansas House Committee Working on Plan to Expand Medicaid

Amy Campbell — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 02:58:42 GMT

By JOHN HANNA

updated 1/26/2015 5:13:53 PM ET http://www.nbcnews.com/id/56870842/ns/health/t/kansas-house-committee-working-plan-expand-medicaid/#.VMd2C2c5Bjo

TOPEKA, Kan. — Hospital officials gave their backing Monday to a Kansas House committee's effort to expand the state Medicaid program to capture additional dollars under the federal health care overhaul, despite opposition to the plan from Republican leaders.

The Vision 2020 Committee heard supportive testimony from Tom Bell, president and CEO of the Kansas Hospital Association, and two top executives with Via Christi, the state's largest health system. They said expanding Medicaid as contemplated by the 2010 federal health care law would provide coverage to another 169,000 Kansas residents, including 100,000 with jobs.

Committee Chairman Tom Sloan, a Lawrence Republican, is pursuing the Medicaid expansion plan despite strong opposition from top Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature. Sloan is more liberal than most other GOP lawmakers, and his committee — set up to study long-term problems — is unusual in not being controlled by conservatives.

The state's $3 billion-a-year Medicaid program provides health coverage to 368,000 needy and disabled Kansans, but it doesn't cover able-bodied adults without children, and many parents aren't covered unless their incomes fall well below the federal poverty level. Meanwhile, the federal health care law provides insurance subsidies for families but only at or above the poverty level, or $23,850 for a family of four.

Bell said the Hospital Association is working on legislation to authorize Republican Gov. Sam Brownback — a strong opponent of the federal health care law — to negotiate the terms of an expansion with the federal government. Sloan said his committee's bill will be more specific and include provisions for raising any state dollars needed to match federal funds. State law currently prohibits a Medicaid expansion.

"I think the point is, let's have a serious discussion about this," Bell told the committee.

Rep. Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, introduced a bill last week to expand the Medicaid program as contemplated by the federal law.

The federal government promises to pay the full cost of a state's Medicaid expansion through 2016 and at least 90 percent after that. But top Kansas Republican legislators are skeptical that the promise will be kept.

"Can you tell me — anybody tell me — it's going to be there forever?" said House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican. "No."

Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, a Nickerson Republican, said GOP lawmakers are reluctant to extend social services benefits to able-bodied adults. He also doubted the state can provide matching funds.

The state faces budget shortfalls totaling more than $710 million in its current budget and the one for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The gaps arose after lawmakers aggressively cut personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging to stimulate the economy.

Bell said hospitals are even willing to consider a special tax to raise the state's matching funds, believing it's worth it to get the additional federal dollars. Also, the group contends expanded coverage will decrease other costs, such as those hospitals incur when indigent patients use emergency rooms for their primary medical care.

Kansas Mission of Mercy Charity Dental Project to be held in Salina

Amy Campbell — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 11:25:25 GMT

Patient Information http://www.ksdentalfoundation.org/patients/

2015 Salina KMOM Clinic Location

Salina Bicentennial Center
800 The Midway
Salina, KS

KMOM-Salina, February 13-14, 2015

Answers to Patient Questions:

Continue taking any prescription medication as directed so bring it along so a dose is not missed should the patient have to wait a good portion of the day.
The patient will need to fill out a brief health history so bring a list of allergies, prescriptions, etc. to have this information available.
Patients do not need to bring dental records or proof of income.
Services are first come, first served and ALL patients must be able to wait in line – no appointments.
The clinic opens at 4:30 am on both Friday and Saturday (February 13-14) and waiting in line or determining how early to get in line, is up to the patient.
We only let in as many patients as we will be able to treat that day (approximately 1,000) and we will then close the doors. Standing in line on Friday and not getting in does not give the patient priority the next day. It is the same process on Saturday, first come, first served.
Be prepared to wait and potentially be there all day. We let approximately 1,000 patients in the clinic so it may be mid-afternoon before a patient is treated.
We will provide breakfast and lunch for the patients at no cost to them.
After a medical screening, the patient will be examined by a dentist at KMOM and the patient’s greatest need will be treated. For example, if a patient needs extractions and fillings, the greatest need (probably the extractions) will be treated at KMOM. The patient does have the option to come back the next day to get the fillings but they must wait in line again like everybody else. No line priority is given.
Services provided include cleanings, fillings, and extractions. No dentures will be provided at KMOM.
Full mouth extractions will be done if determined necessary by the examining dentist. The patient will be able to discuss treatment/procedure options with the dentist prior to care.
We typically have as many volunteers as we need registered prior to KMOM. Therefore, volunteering will not give priority or access to treatment. Registered volunteers who wish to be treated need to manage their schedule so they can wait in line for treatment.

Brownback budget includes Medicaid changes, tobacco tax increase (MH Prescription Drug Formulary)

Amy Campbell — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 14:47:29 GMT

Budget director says adjustments necessary to structurally balance budget

By Andy Marso | January 16, 2015 Read KHI Article

Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration outlined a sweeping budget plan Friday that includes changes to Medicaid and increases in the state’s tobacco and alcohol taxes.

Budget Director Shawn Sullivan said closing a $650 million budget gap will require new tax revenue and slowed expenses in the state’s “three major cost drivers”: public schools, public employee pensions and Medicaid.

“It is time to make additional changes to both better the care coordination of 400,000-plus members in Medicaid and, second, to further bend down the cost curve in Medicaid,” Sullivan said.

Two years ago the state moved all Medicaid services to managed care under the administration of three private insurance companies — a program called KanCare.

The budget proposed Friday aims to save about $50 million through a series of “policy and contractual changes.”

One is to increase the “privilege fee” levied on the three KanCare companies —known as managed care organizations, or MCOs — from 1 percent to 5.5 percent. Sullivan said that should bring about $8 million to the state general fund. It also will allow the state to draw down federal matching funds and increase the per-member reimbursement for MCOs so they are “held harmless.”

Brownback also will use his executive authority to shift responsibility for determining Medicaid eligibility from the Kansas Department for Children and Families to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Sullivan said that’s an attempt to reduce incorrect eligibility approvals.

“Right now our error rate on eligibility is over 12 percent, according to an audit that was done two years ago,” he said. “If we lower that error rate to just 2 percent, then it saves $26 million. The national average is 3.3 percent.”

Other changes to Medicaid focus largely on altering prescription drug reimbursement procedures. Sullivan said that includes adjusting the pharmacy dispensing fee, changing the formula for the pricing of drugs and changing billing requirements for drug testing codes.

Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal and state governments, but Sullivan said none of the Medicaid changes would require federal approval. Some will require legislative approval, however, including the establishment of a behavioral health drug formulary.

The formulary would allow the state or MCOs to regulate mental health drugs like they do other types of prescriptions, through tools like prior authorization and preferred drug lists.

Advocates have said for years that such a plan would foster safer, more appropriate use of anti-psychotic medications, but the mental health community has resisted, saying that delays in the dispensing of mental health medications can be deadly.

State law currently bans applying regulatory tools like prior authorization to mental health drugs. Amy Campbell, a lobbyist for the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, said her organization remains open to changes that discourage unsafe prescribing patterns but opposes repealing the ban on a behavioral health drug formulary.

“Unfortunately we’ve been having a really hard time getting anyone to talk to us about what specific language might help with these safety situations that they’re concerned about,” she said. “We think there is so much room for cooperating on smart prescribing policy. We’re a little perplexed at this drive toward revoking the statute.”

The Medicaid changes are intended to slow costs that Sullivan said have climbed by $182 million on the state side alone in the last three years.

Sen. Jim Denning, a Republican from Overland Park, laid blame for the cost increases at the feet of the federal government. The federal Affordable Care Act levied a provider tax on the state for each of the three MCOs.

“When you look at these documents, you think Medicaid is out of control again,” said Denning, an administrator at Discover Vision. “It probably is, but it’s not from medical or surgical (costs) or new (members) getting on. It’s federal taxes that are driving it now.”

Sullivan said during his budget presentation that the state is also using extra Medicaid drug rebate money to close the current budget gap. He noted that some of that excess came from the ACA’s expansion of the drug rebate program but “a larger part” is from “improved utilization” of the rebate program by the MCOs.

Prior to the ACA, managed care companies were not permitted to participate in the drug rebate program.

Other new revenue streams for the general fund proposed Friday include tying future income tax cuts to economic growth rather than making them automatic and approving sizable increases in the state’s tobacco and alcohol taxes.

Under Brownback’s plan, the tobacco tax would almost triple, from 79 cents to $2.29 per pack, and the alcohol enforcement tax would increase from 8 percent to 12 percent. The increases are expected to bring in about $110 million annually.

Sullivan said it had been more than a decade since either tax had been raised. He also said the increases were consistent with the governor’s philosophy of taxing consumption rather than income.

Sen. Jeff Melcher, a Republican from Leawood, said he would prefer to see the budget office seek more revenue by ending sales and property tax exemptions, including the state’s deep discount on farmland property tax.

“I don’t know why we didn’t have a proposal to correct some of the people not paying into the system now rather than going into two areas that are already heavily taxed,” Melcher said.

Melcher said many of his constituents already travel to lower-tax Missouri for their alcohol and cigarettes.

Sen. Laura Kelly, a Democrat from Topeka, said she could sympathize with border counties likely to lose more business. But she said the tobacco tax makes sense from a public health standpoint.

“I’m anti-smoking, and I know that the higher the cost of cigarettes, the less likely young folks are to pick it up,” Kelly said. “If you don’t start smoking when you’re young, generally you don’t start smoking.”

In the broader budget picture, Kelly said the cigarette and alcohol taxes won’t be a sufficient long-term fix. The income tax plan needs to be further explored, she said.

Kelly said the changes proposed Friday are complex, and require more time to evaluate.

“I’ve got a lot of reading to do this weekend,” she said.

- See more at: http://www.khi.org/news/article/brownback-budget-includes-medicaid-changes-tobacco-tax-increase#sthash.1Lbu4vEY.dpuf

Rural Hospitals plead for Medicaid Expansion

Amy Campbell — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 11:35:51 GMT

By Peter Hancock

January 14, 2015, 5:36 p.m. Updated January 14, 2015, 10:12 p.m.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/jan/14/rural-hospitals-plead-medicaid-expansion/

TOPEKA — Kansas hospital officials told a legislative committee Wednesday that they face tremendous economic challenges if the state does not expand Medicaid as allowed under the Affordable Care Act.

"We’re in the roughest time we’ve ever been in," said Dennis Franks, CEO of Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute.

Franks was among several people who testified Wednesday before the House Vision 2020 Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence. That committee is generally charged with conducting long-term studies of issues that normally don't get the attention they need in a regular 90-day session, Sloan said.

Sloan said he hopes to develop a "Kansas solution" for expanding Medicaid that will pass the conservative-dominated Legislature.

But the hearings began barely two months after a general election, when many Republicans campaigned on their opposition to the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare. And as soon as the hearings began GOP House leaders quickly started pushing back.

"That's not a health committee," said House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, when asked whether he would allow a Medicaid expansion bill to be debated on the floor of the House. "We have committees where that stuff goes through."

But Sloan appeared to be trying to win over support from conservative lawmakers by focusing the first hearing on the impact that not expanding Medicaid has on rural hospitals.

Franks said his hospital serves about 42,000 people in a four-county area in southeast Kansas where 12.5 percent of the population is uninsured and 32 percent of all children live in poverty. He said the cost of providing charity and uncompensated care at Neosho runs about $1.4 million a year.

“It is a battle out there," Franks said. "We are under siege from the federal government, and from state government.”

The problem for Neosho hospital, and for many rural hospitals, officials said, is that the Affordable Care Act is financed in part with a reduction in hospital payments from Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly.

That was supposed to be offset by increasing the number of people with insurance, through expanded Medicaid and subsidized private insurance sold through exchange markets, thus lowering the amount of money hospitals lose through uncompensated or charity care.

Under the law, the federal government pays almost all of the cost of covering those who become eligible for Medicaid due to the expansion.

The Kansas Hospital Association has estimated that Kansas will forgo $380 million in federal funding this year by not expanding Medicaid.

The law originally required states to expand Medicaid — the joint state and federal insurance program for the poor — to cover everyone in households with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level. But the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that provision and said that Congress could only make Medicaid expansion optional for states.

Kansas is one of 22 states that so far have declined to expand their Medicaid programs.

Mike Larkin, executive director of the Kansas Pharmacists Association, said the ruling has divided the country into what he called the "have states" and "have-not states." In the have-not states like Kansas, he said, hospitals are seeing the reduced Medicare reimbursements, but they are not seeing an increase in patients who have health insurance.

Chad Austin, a lobbyist for the Kansas Hospital Association, said rural hospitals are hit especially hard by that because a larger share of their patients are covered by Medicare.

"We have an older population, more elderly population, that has some different challenges associated with that," Austin said.

Rep. Barbara Bollier, a moderate Republican from Mission Hills and a physician, said she thinks a Medicaid expansion bill could pass this year if it's presented in a way that conservatives might accept.

"We have a budget crisis. Expanding Medicaid would actually help that. So in the end, I think this will have to be part of the discussion.

Freshman Rep. Shannon Francis, R-Liberal, said expanding Medicaid might be good for the hospitals in his district, but he's not sure whether voters in that conservative part of southwest Kansas are ready to accept it.

"I'm not sure there's a consensus yet in my community," Francis said.

In Kansas, average "Benchmark" plan cost lower for 2015

Amy Campbell — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 11:21:28 GMT

By Bryan Thompson | December 05, 2014, KHI News Service

Premiums in the federal health insurance marketplace are slightly higher, on average, for 2015 than last year — but not for the "benchmark" plan in Kansas.

A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the cost of the so-called “benchmark” silver plan is up an average of 2 percent in 35 states across the nation. But in Kansas, the benchmark plan cost is actually an average of 5 percent lower for 2015.

Document

Health Plan Choice and Premiums in the 2015 Health Insurance Marketplace

Download .PDF

Kansas Insurance Department spokesman Bob Hanson said that’s because Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas has added a HMO marketplace plan with premiums lower than last year’s benchmark plan.

“Last year’s lowest benchmark silver plan is now the second lowest in premium for this year,” he said. “Coverages are the same, however.”

Document

Issue Brief: Kansas Marketplace Opens for Year Two

Download .PDF

These figures don’t include tax credits that almost eight in 10 Kansas customers qualified for last year. HHS officials said that with those tax credits, most customers can find coverage for $100 a month or less, out-of-pocket, if they shop around.

Five companies are selling plans in Kansas this year, compared to four last year. With 25 percent more issuers participating in the marketplace in 2015, based on analysis of 35 states, more than 90 percent of consumers nationwide will be able to choose from three or more issuers — up from 74 percent in 2014.

Open enrollment in the marketplace continues through Feb. 15, 2015. But consumers, including those who currently have coverage through the marketplace, need to enroll or re-enroll by Dec. 15 in order to have coverage effective on Jan. 1, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.khi.org/news/article/kansas-average-benchmark-plan-cost-lower-2015#sthash.JVlw86N3.dpuf

Get Out and Vote Today - Tips + Constitutional Amendment

Amy Campbell — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:33:39 GMT

GET OUT AND VOTE TODAY!

Hopefully, you have already been involved in local campaigns, showed up to your candidate’s fundraiser and thanked him or her for caring about mental health issues. This morning, you got up a little early, walked out the door past the campaign signs posted in your yard, and dropped by your local polling place on the way to work. The “I Voted” sticker on your lapel shows that you are way ahead of the game.

No? Well, it is not too late to support the policymakers who have supported you. MAKE IT COUNT! With the polls running very close in a number of races, your vote matters.

Here are a few hints to help you cast your vote. Remember, the choices of our elected officials WILL impact your life. And, as always, if you have any questions at all, about voting or about your local candidates - please do not hesitate to call me at 785-969-1617.

The Kansas polling places opened at 7:00 a.m. and will close at 7:00 p.m.

Click this link https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView/RegistrantSearch.do for important information from the Secretary of State’s office – everything you need to know about your ballot!

Simply enter your county, name and birthdate to see the address of your polling place, the districts you live in, and your voting history. Under Sample Ballots, click on the underlined color letters of your precinct ballot. You can see all of the choices you will make in the voting booth.

Now that you have all the information you need – GO VOTE! And, by the way, it isn’t too late to call your local candidate and tell them you are supporting them. They’ve been working very hard and a good word is always appreciated. See the House of Representatives candidates list attached.

BRING YOUR PHOTO ID: Info from the KS Secretary of State's website.

Starting January 1, 2012, Kansas voters must show photographic identification when casting a vote in person. If the photo ID has an expiration date on it, the ID must not have expired at the time of voting. An acceptable photo ID does not have to have an expiration date on the document in order to be valid. Persons age 65 or older may use expired photo ID documents. Acceptable forms of photo ID are:

· A driver's license or nondriver's identification card issued by Kansas or by another state or district of the United States

· A concealed carry of handgun license issued by Kansas or a concealed carry of handgun or weapon license issued by another state or district of the United States

· A United States passport

· An employee badge or identification document issued by a municipal, county, state, or federal government office

· A military identification document issued by the United States

· A student identification card issued by an accredited postsecondary institution of education in the state of Kansas

· A public assistance identification card issued by a municipal, county, state or federal government office

· An identification card issued by an Indian tribe

More information about Photo ID and how to obtain free photo ID or voter ID – go to : http://www.gotvoterid.com/valid-photo-ids.html#idlist This won’t help you get an ID today, but you can cast a provisional ballot today and provide an ID to the election clerk before the county canvass.

____________________________________________

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR CHARITABLE RAFFLES

One more note – there is a constitutional amendment on the ballot regarding charitable raffles. Currently, raffles of any kind are illegal in Kansas unless they are crafted in a way that gets around the letter of the law (i.e. doesn’t require purchase of an entry, or is somehow based on skill). These loopholes are a convoluted way to get around our constitutional prohibition against lotteries (state lottery exempted of course). KMHC has no official position on the issue.

Click here for information from the Department of Revenue about the ballot question:

KDADS Announces Expansion of Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement

Amy Campbell — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:38:06 GMT

9-16-14 (TOPEKA) – Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Secretary Kari Bruffett announced today the funding of several projects to expand the number of Kansas law enforcement officers and those in related fields that are trained to deal appropriately with individuals experiencing mental health crises.

“Some of the most significant recommendations made by the Governor’s Mental Health Task Force address the way law enforcement officers interact with the mentally ill,” Secretary Bruffett said. “The task force emphasized the need for front-line responders to receive instruction in the most effective ways to interact with individuals who suffer from mental illness. In the communities that this training has already occurred, law enforcement and corrections personnel report that it makes a huge difference in way these situations are resolved. ”

The projects were developed as a response to recommendations made by the Kansas Governor’s Mental Health Task Force and with the guidance of the Kansas Governor’s Law Enforcement Behavioral Health Advisory Council.
In May, Governor Sam Brownback outlined his administration’s plans for strengthening the delivery of behavioral health services in Kansas. One of the initiatives he announced was the creation of the Law Enforcement Behavioral Health Advisory Council, consisting of Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Secretary Ray Roberts, Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter, and Topeka Police Department Captain Bill Cochran. The council serves in an advisory capacity to review future community grants aimed at helping to keep individuals in the community and out of jails, prisons, and state hospitals. Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and Mental Health First Aid training is a part of that effort aimed at education for front-line responders.

Read the press release.

Kansas Mental Health Coalition accepting member proposals to amend Consensus Recommendations

Amy Campbell — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 04:13:13 GMT

Procedure to consider changes to the Consensus Recommendations - KMHC will consider amendments proposed by Coalition members at the October, November and December meetings. Please review the current Recommendations here. Please review the current Issue Papers here. If your proposed amendment is a simple update to current language, please draft the amendment as it would be inserted into the current document. If it is a new topic or action item, please draft an Issue Proposal Paper - see format here - and submit to KMHC at this link by the Friday before the meeting.

Governor Issues Proclamation for Suicide Prevention Week September 7-13

Amy Campbell — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 17:31:15 GMT

Governor Brownback has issued a proclamation declaring September 7-13, 2014, Suicide Prevention Week.

Click here to see the Proclamation.

Overuse of antipsychotic drugs in some Kansas nursing homes endangering patients

Amy Campbell — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:07:16 GMT

State ranks 47th worst for use of powerful drugs to control behavior of residents with dementia

Mike Shields, KHI News Service, Aug. 25, 2014

TOPEKA undefined Experts say powerful antipsychotic drugs undefined sometimes given in combination undefined are used too much and often inappropriately as “chemical restraints” or sedatives to control the behavior of Kansas nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer’s or other dementias, and that efforts to curb the practice so far are showing weak results compared with other states.

“Kansas is pretty far outside the norm, clearly, of what is happening in the rest of the nation,” said Mitzi McFatrich, executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better Care, a Lawrence-based group that champions improved conditions in nursing homes.

Kansas was 47th worst among the states and the District of Columbia in a recent rankings report published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which in 2012 launched a national initiative to reduce the use of antipsychotics for dementia in nursing home residents. The effort came after a 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General raised concerns about too frequent “off-label” prescription of the drugs, which can have harmful, sometimes fatal, side effects.

KMHC to Discuss Health Homes at August Meeting

Amy Campbell — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 17:27:33 GMT

Rick Hoffmeister, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, will provide information about the new KanCare Health Homes project focusing on adults with serious mental illness.

KanCare Health Homes website: http://www.kancare.ks.gov/health_home.htm

Kansas Health Homes: Quick Facts http://www.kancare.ks.gov/health_home/download/Health_Homes_Quick_Facts.pdf

Health Homes Herald - August Newsletter: Read Here.

Three Legislators Lose Primary Elections - Link to Elections Information

Amy Campbell — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 12:55:09 GMT

Kansas primary elections were held on Tuesday, August 5. The primaries determine who will represent Democrat and Republican parties in the General Election November 4 – if there are candidates from more than one party on the ballot.

Most current legislators were able to retain their positions Tuesday, except for three legislators from the House of Representatives. In District 50, Rep. Josh Powell (R-Topeka) lost his position as the Republican nominee to Fred Patton. The difference was less than 50 votes and the race wasn’t final until the provisional ballots are counted. The winner will face Chris Huntsman (D) in the general election.

In District 65, Rep. Allan Rothlisberg (R-Junction City) lost the nomination to Lonnie Clark, who will run against Tom Brungardt (D) in the general election. In District 93, Rep. Joe Edwards (R-Wichita) lost the nomination to John Whitmer, who will run against Sammy Flaharty (D) in the general election.

There were two State Senate races determined on Tuesday. Richard Wilborn (R-McPherson) will serve District 35 after winning a five-person primary race to replace Senator Clark Shultz, who ran for Insurance Commissioner. Former Rep. Marshall Christmann, R-Lyons, placed third in that race.

Molly Baumgardner, R-Louisburg, defeated Charlotte O’Hara (former Representative) to retain the senate seat for District 37. Baumgardner had been appointed to replace Senator Pat Apple, who was appointed to the Kansas Corporation Commission.

The top statewide office-holders were able to hold onto their Republican nominations, but many news outlets are suggesting that the vote counts were close enough to indicate some voter dissatisfaction with these incumbents. Governor Brownback / Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer defeated Jennifer Winn with 63% of the vote. Congressman Mike Pompeo beat Todd Tiahrt with 63%. Senator Pat Roberts beat challenger Milton Wolf in a three-way race with only 48%. Congressman Tim Huelskamp beat his challenger with 55% of the vote.

Republican Ken Selzer won the primary race for Insurance Commissioner and will represent the Republican Party in the general election in November. There were five candidates in the race, including former Representative and (for a short time) Senator Clark Shultz. Shultz chaired the House Insurance Committee for many years, but placed third in the race.

For more information about the candidates, see the attached report which has several spreadsheets detailing the races – including primary results and general election information. It is color-coded, with the explanation in the first row.

Now is a great time to reach out and congratulate your local winners. If there is a general election pending, be sure to offer your support to friendly candidates through financial contributions, hosting fundraisers or meet-and-greet events, and posting campaign signs on your property.

For more information, contact KMHC by clicking here

Concern, hope surround mental health funding

Amy Campbell — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 03:39:23 GMT

Concern, hope surround mental health funding

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/jun/23/concern-hope-surround-mental-health-funding/

LJWorld.com June 23, 2014 by Scott Rothschild

For years, under mental health reform, state funding was provided for low-income Kansans who didn’t qualify for Medicaid. But during the Great Recession, the grant funding to the community mental health centers was cut by 65 percent, or $20 million since 2008.

Kansas’ system of addressing mental health issues continues to deal with funding problems and the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid, mental health advocates say.

But they also say there are bright spots on the horizon.

“We are taking some small steps forward,” said David Wiebe, president of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition.

“But like so many things in the public arena, it boils down to funding, and clearly there is not enough money to meet the needs,” Wiebe said.

The 27 Community Mental Health Centers treat about 120,000 people each year.

But most of those people, 85,000, have neither Medicaid nor other health insurance.

A recent report by Gov. Sam Brownback’s task force on mental health said that while the state must hold the mental health system accountable with specific performance measures, it also must “ensure adequate funding is present to carry out these key tasks.”

In response to the report, Brownback announced a $9.5 million initiative that he said would strengthen the delivery of mental health services in the state.

Wiebe and others in the mental health community applauded the initiative as a promising start.

“It’s very encouraging that the governor is placing a focus on mental health,” said Wiebe.

He was particularly pleased that the plan includes $1 million for the mental health centers to provide crisis services and programs to the uninsured.

But that is one-time funding and will be the subject of appropriations battles in years to come to continue it, he said.

The task force report, however, was silent on the political touchy subject of expanding Medicaid.

Currently in Kansas, parents cannot make more than $9,063 a year for a family of four to qualify for Medicaid, and in most cases, childless adults cannot qualify even if they have no income.

But under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, states can expand Medicaid eligibility and the federal government will pay for it for three years, and pay no less than 90 percent of the cost after that.

Brownback, a Republican and ardent opponent of the ACA, and the Republican-dominated Legislature have rejected Medicaid expansion, saying they don’t trust the federal government to pay for the bulk of it. Kansas is one of 19 states not moving forward on expanding Medicaid under the ACA.

Recently, Brownback said more alternatives to the ACA are needed.

“I think there are going to be more options coming out. I think as this wears on, and people have difficulty with it, and the cost structure is so high, you’ll see more options open up,” Brownback said.

Asked if he was noting how some other states, including those led by Republican governors, were negotiating different ways to expand Medicaid, Brownback said, “We’re watching all of it, if there is a way to do it. I am more confident today than I’ve ever been that there will be other options out there by as malleable as the Obama administration has been on every other piece of Obamacare.”

But Brownback said his primary focus on health care has been the startup of KanCare, his privatization of the state’s Medicaid program.

Mental health advocates say failing to expand Medicaid under the ACA is a wasted opportunity.

“That (expansion of Medicaid) is probably the biggest single thing that would help the mental health system and go a long way to providing coverage to the bulk of low income Kansans,” Wiebe said.

Kyle Kessler, executive director of the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, said he recently went to a national conference and every person he spoke to from a state that had expanded Medicaid eligibility expressed no regrets. “It makes a lot of sense to have a payer source for every patient,” Kessler said.

Both Kessler and Wiebe, however, said they were pleased with other recent mental health developments, particularly the transformation of the Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City, Kan., from a more long-term inpatient facility to a crisis stabilization center, which started operating last month.

Officials say this will enable people who show excessive behaviors to receive quicker treatment and connect them faster to community services. The facility will be run by Wyandot Center, the community mental health center in Kansas City, Kan.

“It is a go-to place for law enforcement and people in the community,” said Amy Campbell, a lobbyist for the Kansas Mental Health Coalition. “You can get screened for what you need and hopefully they can get directly into the kinds of services that you need. The idea is that it will provide the right services for people at the right time. It gives law enforcement an option to take them there instead of jail,” she said,

Failing to provide care for people who need it will, in many cases, just leads to higher costs down the road in the criminal justice system.

Nearly one-third of inmates in the state prison system have been diagnosed with mental illness, and nearly one in five are being treated with psychotropic medications, according to state corrections officials.

One of the initiatives in Brownback’s plan includes $500,000 in community grants to help divert people with mental health problems from jails and prisons.

And another part of the plan will take $7 million from reserves in a program designed to provide temporary cash assistance to the needy and use those funds for programs aimed at helping families that are experiencing mental health problems, administration officials said.

Wiebe said helping families is crucial. “Working to help at-risk families, that is where it all begins,” he said.

Another area of hope in the mental health community is the proposal by KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program, to start providing “health homes” for people with mental illness. This will provide both mental and physical health care for people out of a central location. “This is to make sure you are getting served as a whole person,” Campbell said.

Campbell said she was optimistic about the future for mental health services in Kansas.

“I feel like we are right on the edge of something good. There are many evidence-based practices that we know that will work, and hopefully we can reverse this trend of contraction that started in 2008,” she said.

Kansas Citians push to remove stigma from mental illness

Amy Campbell — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 02:44:31 GMT

One in four adults suffers some measure of mental illness each year, so Kansas Citians who’ve been affected by mental illnesses urge us all to open up. Suicide, which kills more people annually than murder, stands as the third-leading of cause of death for young people ages 18 to 24.

Click here to read the full article at kansascity.com.

Governor Sam Brownback announces programs to strengthen mental health delivery in the state

Amy Campbell — Wed, 28 May 2014 04:53:48 GMT

Governor Sam Brownback, flanked by cabinet secretaries and advocates from across the state, today announced his administration’s plans to continue strengthening the delivery of mental health services in the State of Kansas.

“I remain committed to strengthening and expanding access to timely, quality mental services and improving outcomes for all Kansans,” Governor Brownback said. “This is one of the priority initiatives of my administration, and we have taken some significant steps forward. We are making direct investments in ways we believe will pull the state together to address this challenge. I have asked all of the state agencies to become actively involved in coordinating their efforts.”

The Governor outlined specific projects the state is launching to address the behavioral health needs of individuals, families and communities. Those include:

Creating a Behavioral Health Subcabinet composed of agency representatives from the Department of Health and Environment, Department of Children and Families, Department of Education, Department of Corrections, Department for Aging and Disability Services, and the National Guard, which will work to identify common outcomes, coordinate data systems, and look at cost related matters. The Subcabinet will oversee the preparation of a comprehensive review of behavioral health care costs and examination of how funding is allocated throughout the system.
Appointing a Law Enforcement Behavioral Health Advisory Council, consisting of Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Secretary Ray Roberts, Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter, and Topeka Policy Department Captain Bill Cochran, which will serve in an advisory capacity to review community grant applications for $500,000 in community grants, funded through the Governor’s budget amendment, that will help keep individuals in the community and out of jail, prisons and state hospitals. Possible grant projects include Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), Mental Health First Aid, Mental Health Courts, Jail diversion programs, and education for front-line responders. The advisory council will also help advise the Governor’s Behavioral Health Planning Council as they work to prioritize and implement law enforcement- and corrections-specific recommendations made by the Governor’s Mental Health Task Force Report.
Targeting substance use, which plays a significant role in exacerbating the mental health situation confronting families and institutions in Kansas; Substance abuse destroys lives and affects families, law enforcement, corrections – and ultimately our economic well-being in terms of lost productivity

Building and enhancing community supports through identifying at-risk communities around the state and helping them create programs that address their specific behavioral health needs. This will include $10,000 for a data project to identify the most at-risk communities in the state and $140,000 to help support 12-15 high-risk Kansas communities.

Increasing investment in family-strengthening programs by establishing prevention, education and family-support projects in communities across the state to help families with members who are experiencing behavioral health challenges using $7 million in TANF funding.

And that the state will invest additional resources in existing current infrastructure, including:

$500,000 for Substance Use Disorder treatment beds that will allow the state to open 81 additional beds funded through the Governor’s Budget Amendment
$1 million in one-time money to be used for Community Mental Health Centers to strengthen their ability to provide treatment to individuals without health insurance

“To this point we have concentrating on building our infrastructure. Now we are beginning to invest in specific programs. What we are doing fits into the Mental Health Task Force’s model of investing at each level – individual, family, community, state – that can impact mental health in Kansas,” Governor Brownback said.

Public Comment open for 2014 Federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program

Amy Campbell — Wed, 07 May 2014 20:23:33 GMT

Kansas has prepared the FFY 2014 Federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program application that will be submitted to the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance on June 2, 2014. The Kansas Statewide Strategic Plan for FY 2015-2018 will accompany the federal application. These documents are pending final approval by the Kansas Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. The application and state strategy are currently available for public comment through May 23, 2014 at https://governor.ks.gov/serving-kansans/grants-program/grant_opportunities/edward-j-byrne-memorial-justice-assistance-grant.

Amy Kramer, Grant Analyst

Governor's Grants Program

Landon State Office Building, Rm 304North

900 SW Jackson Street

Topeka, KS 66612

Voice: 785.291.3205

Fax: 785.291.3204

amy.kramer@ks.gov

"Creating S.A.F.E. Communities"

Council will focus on Children's Issues at Friday meeting in Topeka

Amy Campbell — Tue, 06 May 2014 16:07:25 GMT

The Governor's Behavioral Health Services Planning Council will feature an in-depth children's issues meeting this Friday, May 9, in Topeka from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Council will hear from Laura Howard, SAMHSA; Jo Budler, Kansas State Librarian; as well as experts from the fields of education and housing. Click here for the agenda.

The meeting will also include insight from six Kansans who will talk about Youth Success and what it means for the youth and the family. These individuals have experienced mental health issues and used mental health services.

The meeting will be held at the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation KPERS Building, 611 S. Kansas Avenue, Suite 300, Topeka, KS.

Senate Passes Budget Bill, Legislature Pushes Toward Adjournment

Amy Campbell — Fri, 02 May 2014 16:38:14 GMT

The Senate passed the last budget bill of 2014 today - Senate Sub for HB 2231 on a vote of 22-18. Click here for the Conference Committee Explanation and click here for the three column comparison of House/Senate budget items. Finally, this is the overall budget profile, including the prior budget bills passed this session for education and the judiciary. Remember, these documents are showing changes to the Governors Recommended Budget.

The bill does include the consensus caseloads adjustments, provisions for shifting funds in KDADS for the Rainbow Alternative Project and the Governor’s Budget Amendments for mental health, substance abuse treatment, and reducing HCBS waiting lists. The conference committee also added a one time $250 payment to state employees.

The budget bill will have to be voted on by the House of Representatives this afternoon. There are still multiple conference committee reports and other issues pending for action today – including tax policy – but leaders are hoping to adjourn the session today. Technically, they still have another 7 days allotted for the 2014 session if they need them.

Here are notes from the Senate debate -

HB 2231 – 2014 Budget

Senator Ty Masterson, Ways and Means Committee Chair – This is what is left of the state budget – could call it the leftover items that have not already been addressed – the rats and cats. We have already passed a budget bill for Judiciary and one for Education.

This is the remaining budget. The runs do not include the reduced revenues in April.

The Conference Committee did agree to a $250 one-time bonus this year. It is all state employees, not only classified. It does not include elected officials.

It looks like we took $15 million out of Commerce, but it just reflects the $5 million to each university.

Changed transfer to Bioscience Authority from $27 m to $32 m. Took the $5 m from the KEY fund (tobacco dollars). We had an increase in receipts from tobacco dollars in consensus report of around $7 m.

Senator Kelly - distributed of the projections for reduced revenues that are not currently a part of the consensus revenues. “Reality of our budget situation”.

Started FY 13 with $709 m in our ending balance. By the end of FY 15, will have blown through that. We are not dealing with the reality of the decreases in revenues. This is budgeting with blinders on. No one wants to deal with the elephant in the room. Even though we have made significant cuts in programs already, we should be looking at more cuts in each fiscal year just to avoid deficit budgeting: Would need to cut $48.4 m in 14; $277 m in 15; For 16, we would need to cut another$ 193 m to come to 0 balance. For FY 17 - $77 m; FY 18 - $38.2 m; and FY 19 - $181 m.

Just to come to zero. When you add those figures up, that comes to $1.26 billion in cuts that we would need to make just to come to zero balances. I know that it is an election year and no one wants to make cuts that would be necessary and no one wants to raise the taxes that would be necessary. In reality, we will have to face this. That is the main reason I didn’t sign this conference report. There are also some very specific items that I oppose.

When we raised the transfer to the Bioscience Authority, we took it out of the mouths of babes – we took it from the Children’s Initiatives Funds. It is not like we are over budgeting in that area. We have lots of needs in children’s programs and that is where that money should be spent if we are going to spend it.

The $250 December payment to state employees is a one time payment and does nothing to elevate the pay scale of our state employees.

The use of one time funds to balance our budget has become the norm. We are spending ½ billion over the two years to fund schools transportation, for mental health grants – what is that about? We are using gaming money. We built into the gaming statute to use the money for debt service, infrastructure, and property tax relief. What are we using it for? Teacher pension fund contribution. Not to pay down the unfunded liability, but just the base contribution.

Those are some of the reasons and there are a lot more reasons. When the $90 million hit was announced this week, we should have gotten together to reboot and address the issue. We didn’t’ do that.

Senator Hawk – I have concerns about higher education. Kansas has cut 22.8% to higher ed in the past few years. Most states have now started increasing funding again. Only 8 states are still cutting. Our neighboring states have increased funding. Tuitions are being pushed up. Only 7 states increased tuition over ____, Kansas is one of them. It makes college less affordable and less accessible for our lower income students. There has been no restoration of the 1.5% cut across the board. We only restored ½ of the salary cuts. Our employees felt the need to move to unclassified employee status, and that has cost Emporia State and Wichita State the funding for longevity bonuses.

I came here because I care about doing the right thing in the present. I also care about doing the right thing in the future. The Georgetown Center says that by 2020, over 60% of all jobs will require college education. They project that without significant investment in higher education, our system will not keep up with the commercial demand for educated employees.

Senator Haley- talked about concerns with pay issues for Judiciary – information from local Court administrator. Are we going to be going back to furlough days and courts being unable to be open five days a week?

A: Refer to HB 2338 which we already passed to fund the Judiciary Budget. This bill includes a provision to clarify the fees that remain with the Judiciary.

Haley – the concerns that have been expressed to me were since the passage of HB 2338. Is there anything in this budget that might improve the budget condition for the Judiciary?

A: There was no further action that needed to be taken to but adding the $8.2 million to prevent any furloughs. The only clarification that was needed was the language that is included in this bill about the fees.

Senator Francisco – Kansas Water Office – reducing payments for the John Redmond Reservoir dredging project?

A; Simply an adjustment to what was necessary for those bond payments.

Francisco – moving $50,000 from State Water Plan – coming from stream bank stabilization?

Yes.

We know that dredging is very expensive. But I think this is a very necessary. My concern is that stream bank stabilization is what we hope will help reduce the silt going into our reservoirs. We are not looking at long term use of these funds.

Talked about meeting with conference committee on SB 84 – which wants to repeal renewable portfolio standards. The motivation is to reduce utility bills. I have attended conferences in Manhattan and ______. A quote from Tracy Streeter regarding the Neosho water basin, cost of shutting down the grid every time they have to shut down Wolf Creek for technical problems relating to water system – costs every utility customer $_____. This is very expensive. I oppose taking any money from our stream bank stabilization projects.

Money to address deferred maintenance projects from our universities, KS Historical Society – could be using gaming funds for our infrastructure.

I would suggest that we could also be using our transportation funds for highways and for rail. We have needs in these areas, but we are using the funds for base budgeting.

Senator Holland – talk about something near and dear to my heart – Kansas tax policy. Talked about the administration paying Dr. Art Laffer to come and talk to us about how to improve our state budget by changing state tax policy – had a book called “Eureka – how to solve California’s problems”. Also had Dr. Art Hall who came and talk to us about cutting Kansas marginal income tax to improve the Kansas economy. Unfortunately, we have basically shot craps in our Kansas economic policy.

Six state region – economic indicators. Showed that Kansas lags in the primary economic indicators for growth. Employment, per capita income, creation of business, more.. This is data brought forward by the Governor’s own Economic Policy Council. I give credit to our legislative committees and their work, but they have been dealt a very difficult hand. Our whole system is built on a house of cards. If we were really trying to build up our small businesses, then why are we giving the same benefits to the huge multi-million dollar companies. And then when we have to try to balance the books on this policy, why are we actually taxing businesses on their losses? What are we really doing to the small businesses we are trying to encourage when we know they are going to

What about our PEAK program? When we talk about giving these businesses benefits based on their employee income taxes, if that is where we are trying to encourage this glide path to zero? Our tax policies are inconsistent and as we pursue our state level goals, we are

If you want to buy into supply side theory, it doesn’t work. If you want to redistribute income in this state, this is your ticket. If you want to cut programs in this state, this is your ticket.

The grand experiment has failed, the rat has died. Rigor mortis has set in. Now, we aren’t going to deal with this until next January. That cage is really going to stink by then. The sooner we start making changes to our tax code to provide a more stable revenue picture for this state, and to provide a more stable outlook for our citizens,

Senator Pettey – cited Moody’s downgrade to Kansas bond rating – came out yesterday. Downgraded Kansas highway revenue bonds because we are shifting transportation funds to underwrite other areas of the state budget. More…

This will put us below the national ratings. Could be improved if we increased our funding of our pension obligations and our bond obligations. Our budget is not doing that.

The April shortfall means that we will need to collect $800 to $900 million in the remaining months of the year to meet our projected revenues for the current fiscal year. Fiscal staff indicates that we may end the year $200 million below estimates. These drops have been made steeper due to our income tax reductions – our decline in income tax withholding is due to the reduction in income tax rates that are more beneficial to higher income Kansans and place more tax burden on lower income Kansans. More…

Cited Duane Goossen quote on Moody’s downgrade. Cited Masterson quote – saying this downgrade should have little effect on our bond health.

A well respected and informed entity has just given us a low grade. That should be a concern to us. I encourage us to consider how we are going to deal with next year’s budget.

Senator Francisco – home inspector’s funds – fees will be collected but won’t go to real estate commission, would go to the Kansas association of real estate inspectors.

Masterson – went with the House position on this. For the purposes of the private association self-regulating the home inspectors.

Francisco – is it true that we received information that the real estate commission has notified us that they will be short of funds and that we have not passed the bill that would allow them to self-fund?

Masteron – I agree that the bill has not passed and that we, as a Senate, did support that bill to allow the fee increases to deal with that. This was a House position and they held very strongly to it, that is one area where we gave in to the House position.

Francisco – this is an area where we are not allowing the Real Estate Commission to collect the moneys they need to regulate. I think it is inappropriate to send the moneys to a private organization with no state obligations or ties.

Senator Hensley – in the interest of full disclosure, I am the last speaker on our side. I think our members have made some very good points. Would call to your attention the graph that Senator Kelly passed out looking at the state general fund profile in the out years. Looks like we will have enough money to fund this budget at least for this fiscal year, but does

I have a copy of a handout that the Governor provided to a group of lobbyists regarding the state general fund profiles – regarding projecting ending balances. It basically states that projecting ending balances more than one year out is very difficult to do with any accuracy. The handout goes from 2012 to FY 15. Interesting to note that it doesn’t go beyond 2015. Goes back over the projected deficit.

We need to face reality – we are a small Midwestern state. Quoted the Governor saying – look out Texas, here comes Kansas. Why would we want to emulate Texas – it is a much larger state with much more resources. Talked about the study done by a blue ribbon commission that reviewed the Kansas tax policy, equating it to a three legged stool Indicating that the three legs should be as close to parity as possible = income tax / sales tax / property tax. Staff says we reached near parity about ten years ago. In reality, this is a self-inflicted budget crisis that we have imposed on ourselves. And we have heard evidence today that these tax cuts are not leading us out of our economic situation by creating jobs or new businesses. And what we have done has increased the burden to low income Kansans by eliminating our

When we started this session, I offered an amendment to reinstate the renter’s homestead exemption, but the answer to why that amendment was rejected was because we couldn’t afford it. “we can’t afford it” – we are going to hear that a lot. We in this chamber are going to be around for another two years and we are going to be hearing that a lot.

To think that this trickle down economic theory is going to a boon to Kansas as espoused by Dr. Laffer and Dr. Hall and others by bringing us additional jobs and growth – I don’t see it. If you are interested in the overall health of Kansas budgets as I am, I would ask you to vote against this budget. There are some good things in this budget, but it doesn’t do the job overall.

Senator McGinn – clarify a question regarding leadership day pay – five or six years ago, leadership day pay was limited. That is now over, it is wide open. I only want to share it because I remember that four or five years ago, it was a big issue and I don’t understand why it isn’t an issue any more. There are several senators who were here then who thought it was a big issue then , but maybe it isn’t important any more.

At the beginning of April, the Senate passed an amendment that stated - No state agency named in 2013 session laws of Kansas or any school district shall expend any money for implementing common core standards unless Kansas Legislature expressly allows it (not actual language). Make no mistake, a vote for this budget is a vote permitting / giving consent for further implementation of common core. There are many reasons to vote no and many reasons to vote yes on this budget. Have many reasons to vote no. I will be voting no.

Masterson – I haven’t had to work too hard carrying the budget today, mostly just listened.

Disagree that this is a vote on common core. That is a different issue and it has had its opportunity for consideration.

Our role in this chamber is to find consensus – find the votes we can agree on. Funny to have the comments from the same group that includes protests for blowing through money and also that we didn’t spend enough. And the protests that we “steal” money – we are transferring money directly to those budgets from sales taxes and other revenues that should be coming to us from the beginning and then budgeted from us. Criticized the protests on ending balances and shifting of funds, when those practices were used in prior budget processes.

This ending balance is solid, this budget is balanced. We have issues to deal with next year. We can’t go below zero – we must deal with it and we will. I’m not saying we don’t have issues – but we will deal with it. This chamber and the other has reasonable people in it, and we will deal with those issues.

22 yes – 18 no

Hensley explanation of vote.

Pyle explanation of vote.

Baumgardner – new senator – appreciate work on the budget. Concerned about $200 million number. Also, when we have a budget that pays amounts such as $76 to individuals, I cannot support that.

Fitzgerald – explanation of vote – appreciate the work on the budget, appreciate the funding for Corrections, but must vote no. We are still spending too much money – taking money from private citizens and spending it on government.

Appointment of David Dillon before we leave town – need to remember.

Caucus at 1:30 p.m. – come back to vote on remaining items at 3:00 p.m. Will then check on House status and wait for more conference reports.

Budget Conference Committee still working - includes GBA and KDADS budget items

Amy Campbell — Thu, 01 May 2014 19:05:14 GMT

At 3 p.m. on Thursday, the budget conference committee is still negotiating the final eight items or so. At this stage of the game, the Governor's Budget Amendment is included - containing additional funding for substance abuse treatment ($500,000), mental health institutional diversion ($500,000), and reducing HCBS waiting lists ($4 m plus federal funds). It also includes the language needed to allow KDADS to move forward with the Rainbow Alternative Project and adjustments in consensus caseloads.

This is good news, considering yesterday's news report that Kansas April revenue receipts were far short of predictions and could have resulted in some reactive budget cutting today. Read the Capital Journal story at Kansas Revenue falls 92m

Budget Conference Committee working quickly to wrap up Budget Bill

Amy Campbell — Thu, 01 May 2014 17:39:08 GMT

When the Legislature convened for Veto Session on Wednesday, April 30, the Appropriations Committee wasted no time in creating a budget bill. The committee adopted the consensus caseloads, adopted the Governor's Budget Amendments (GBAs), adopted some of the omnibus funding items associated with legislation that has already passed the Legislature, dumped the contents into a Senate bill and adjourned.

The normal legislative process would have led to staff cranking out multiple pages of statistics, combined costs, and ending balances. Then, perhaps by Friday, the full House would consider the budget bill. But this is certainly not a year for normal legislative process. There has been no further action to create a House budget bill - instead, House conferees moved directly into negotiating with the Senate over the Senate's budget bill.

Senate Ways and Means had already adopted the consensus caseloads over the legislative break. Also, the Senate had already passed a "mega-budget bill" during the regular session under a House bill number, so it was ready for conference committee. Typically, SWM would meet again to create an omnibus budget bill. Not this year.

Surprisingly, the Committee leadership began conferencing on the Senate mega-budget bill and began adopting various new provisions as a part of that conference committee report. (It had been rumored that the House might enter budget negotiations without passing their own budget bill - but few were betting on it.)

This could put the Legislature in the amazing position of being able to pass a budget bill and possibly adjourn by late Friday or Saturday. By meeting until around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, the conference committee was able to pare down their list of "items of disagreement" from more than 130 to less than 10. The conference committee has met several times on Thursday, and the House just adopted an "agree to disagree" motion which will allow the conference committee report to come back to the floor with only four signatures of the six conferees.

There are other issues pending before the Legislature, but none are absolutely necessary to accomplish before adjourning. Even though the Legislature has ten days set aside for its veto session this year, it is apparent that the leadership hopes to wrap this up as soon as possible. So, if any of the major tax proposals, anti-common core bills, or anti-renewable portfolio standards bills are to pass this session, they need to pass conference committees or find other legislative vehicles... soon.

Governor announces GBA: will recommend reducing waiting lists and boost MH/SUD services

Amy Campbell — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 21:34:37 GMT

Governor Brownback held a press conference this afternoon in Lenexa to announce a GBA (Governor's Budget Amendment) proposal asking the Legislature to commit an additional $5 million state general funds to social services. The proposal commits most of the spending to reducing PD and DD waiting lists. It would also draw down additional federal dollars for this purpose.

$1 million is targeted to mental health and substance abuse treatment. As reported by KHI News Service, "The governor said he also will ask the Legislature for $500,000 to "beef up" substance use disorder treatment for the uninsured. If approved, officials said that would fund 81 inpatient beds. He also will ask for $500,000 to expand state hospital and corrections system mental health diversion programs to strengthen crisis services, law enforcement training and prevention programs."

This is yet another step toward addressing some of the issues brought forward by the Governor's Mental Health Task Force Report. Read the report.

The Kansas Mental Health Coalition is supportive of these budget amendments and looks forward to lending its support to further actions by KDADS and other state agencies to implement the task force recommendations.

Read the full KHI article containing much more detail about the waiting lists as reported by Mike Shields here.

Panel: Jails can't be 'dumping ground' in a mental health crisis

Amy Campbell — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:40:57 GMT

Panel: Jails can't be 'dumping ground' in a mental health crisis

Panelists discuss warrantless apprehension of people in mental health crisis

ANN MARIE BUSH/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Audience members listen Thursday as panelists speak about warrantless apprehension of people in a mental health crisis.

By Ann Marie Bush

Mental health advocates, law enforcement officers and hospital representatives spent two hours Thursday discussing warrantless apprehension of people who are in a mental health crisis.

About 40 people, including officers from the Topeka Police Department, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, Lawrence, Sedgwick County and Kansas City, Kan., gathered in a training room at the Law Enforcement Center from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. for the first Topeka/Shawnee County Crisis Intervention Team roundtable discussion.

“I’m pleased,” said Topeka police Capt. Bill Cochran, who helped organized the event. “We had great panelists.”

Often, jails and hospitals become a “dumping ground” for people who need mental health care, Cochran said. CIT plans to host future roundtables to discuss other mental health issues, he said.

Panelists for Thursday’s presentation included Rick Cagen, executive director of NAMI Kansas; Cindy Hasvold, an emergency department RN case manager for Stormont-Vail Health Care; Shawn Kimble, an officer with TPD; Darren Root, Shawnee County assistant district attorney; Karen Stafford, crisis and intake manager for Valeo Behavioral Health Care; and Bill Rein, chief counsel with the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services.

Rein, who helped write Kansas’ mental health law in 1986 and the Mental Health Reform Act of 1990, talked about the Texas mental health law for emergency detention and how it differs slightly from the Kansas statute for emergency detention.

“The issues are extremely difficult,” Rein said of mental health and the law.

Root also spoke about the similarities and differences of the two laws. He said while the wording is different, the “purpose is the same.”

The Kansas statute addresses care and treatment for mentally ill people and the investigation, emergency detention, and authority and duty of law enforcement officers.

The Kansas statute states, “Any law enforcement officer who has a reasonable belief formed upon investigation that a person is a mentally ill person and because of such person’s mental illness is likely to cause harm to self or others if allowed to remain at liberty may take the person into custody without a warrant.”

The Texas law states, “A peace officer, without a warrant, may take a person into custody if the officer has reason to believe and does believe that the person is mentally ill and because of that mental illness there is a substantial risk of serious harm to the person or to others unless the person is immediately restrained.”

Audience members and panelists discussed how the wording “harm to self” is vague and could be interpreted differently by agencies across the state. Agencies also can interrupt the law differently.

Amy Campbell, with the Mental Health Coalition of Kansas, said, “We can change the words, but nothing will change on the ground.”

Several audience members and panelists emphasized that Kansas needs more resources. Some also said a lot of people are being sent to the state hospital when they could be better served in a less-restricted local treatment facility or intermediate program.

“I think the law works pretty well,” Root said. “It comes down to resources.”

Governor Brownback Proclaims May as Mental Health Awareness Month in Kansas

Amy Campbell — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 17:36:28 GMT

TOPEKA – Governor Sam Brownback today signed a proclamation designating May as Mental Health Awareness Month in Kansas, calling upon all citizens, government agencies, public and private institutions, businesses, and schools in Kansas to commit to increasing awareness and understanding of mental illness and the need for appropriate and accessible services for all people with mental health conditions.

“We are here today to remind Kansans that mental illness is a common, painful experience for many people and their families,” Governor Brownback said. “My administration is working to strengthen the community and institutional supports our state offers those in need of help.”

“Mental illness is often called an invisible illness. Many people are suffering in silence. One in five Americans has experienced mental illness within the past year. It doesn’t discriminate. Anyone can develop a mental illness,” Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Shawn Sullivan said at the proclamation signing ceremony.

“Attitudes around mental illness are beginning to change, but we still have a long way to go toward being able to discuss mental illness as a health challenge,” Secretary Sullivan said. “Our agency is committed to bringing awareness, recognition and education to the issues surrounding behavioral health.”

KDADS has programs in place to allow all Kansans to play a role in building safe, healthy and supportive communities that support those with mental illness.

“Community initiatives and individual citizens’ actions are vital to combat mental health misconceptions and stigma. Let’s all begin by having genuine, open conversations about how mental health issues impact our state, communities and neighborhoods,” Secretary Sullivan said. “We can help stop the discrimination and end the silence about mental health issues.”

Information about KDADS’ mental health programs and services, as well as collaborative efforts with community and advocacy groups focused on mental health, is available on the agency website at www.kdads.ks.gov<http://www.kdads.ks.gov> and at http://www.kansasbehavioralhealthservices.org<http://www.kansasbehavioralhealthservices.org/bhs1.0/>.

For more information, contact:
Angela de Rocha
Director of Communications
Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services
785-806-7482

###

Governor's Mental Health Task Force Report Released

Amy Campbell — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 21:46:21 GMT

READ IT HERE.

Rick Goscha, Co-Chair of the Governor's Mental Health Task Force will be a guest speaker at the KMHC April 23rd meeting to discuss the report.

The Kansas Mental Health Coalition is pleased the report has been completed and looks forward to seeing Task Force recommendations put into action. Staff at KDADS is going over the report to prioritize potential action items. At this point, it is not clear what changes will be implemented or when.

Legislature Works Toward Spring Break

Amy Campbell — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 20:19:45 GMT

The Kansas Legislature is in its final week of the regular session and knee-deep in the development of a new K-12 budget proposal. The Kansas Supreme Court issued a decision March 7, ordering the Legislature to address inequities in its education funding plan prior to July 1. The Court ruled that cuts in State K-12 spending had resulted in unbalanced funding for wealthy and poor districts that is unconstitutional. As a result, the House and Senate pulled back their K-12 education plans for re-shuffling.

Advocates for other budget issues including behavioral health are waiting to see whether or not the education budget plans will run on their own, or if other budget issues will be rolled into a more traditional "mega-budget" bill. It is likely these issues may be kept separate for now to avoid floor amendments that draw from one agencies budget to fund another. Updated consensus revenue estimates are due during the legislative spring break, and the larger budget will likely wait for that information.

Last week, the Governor stated that he expected the Legislature would be able to Last week, the Governor stated that he expected the Legislature would be able to resolve the K-12 funding issue by the end of this week, but that is looking like a very difficult goal at this point.

The development of Senate and House education plans have had some complications. The House Appropriations Chairman introduced a plan last week that was quickly pulled back by the Speaker of the House. Speaker Merrick stated that the leadership had not agreed to a plan that included charter school measures and released a plan without those provisions.

On Monday, Rep. Marc Rhoades quit as Chair of the House Appropriations Committee over disagreement with the Speaker regarding the education funding proposal. Appropriations is considered the most powerful committee in the House of Representatives.

As a result, the Vice-Chair Rep. Gene Suellentrop (R-Wichita) moved into the Chair position and Rep. Marvin Kleeb (R-Overland Park) was appointed Vice-Chair. The Appropriations Committee met most of the last two days and received public testimony on the new House education proposal. Interestingly, there are Appropriations members who continue to show interest in including charter school policies in the funding bill. Democrats have expressed dismay that these budget bills are loaded with policy and should be heard by the Education Committees rather than budget committees.

"Drop Dead Day" is April 4 - the deadline for bills to be passed in the regular session. The Legislature will adjourn for their spring break - when the Governor reviews and signs bills - and will return for the veto session on April 30. The 90th day of the 2014 Legislative Session is May 15, but legislative leaders have indicated that they hope to wrap-up before then.

Mental Health Task Force holds Final Meeting

Amy Campbell — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 05:12:44 GMT

The Governor's Mental Health Task Force held its final meeting February 13. Governor Sam Brownback, KDADS Secretary Shawn Sullivan, and KDHE Secretary Moser participated in the meeting. The Task Force is expected to wrap up its report in March.

The Task Force is essentially Phase 2 of the Governor's Mental Health Initiative announced in January 2013. Phase 1 is the diversion of funding for new regional priorities conducted by five Regional Recovery Service Centers (RRSC). The five regions are currently implementing their goals - see more information at http://www.kansasbehavioralhealthservices.org/bhs1.0/

Suicide Rate Climbs by 30 Percent in Kansas as Government Slashes Mental Health Budgets

Amy Campbell — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:58:18 GMT

[The Nation]

Published on The Nation (http://www.thenation.com)

Suicide Rate Climbs by 30 Percent in Kansas as Government Slashes Mental Health Budgets

Allison Kilkenny | October 21, 2013

[http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/user/255496/kansassuicides_wichitaeagle_img.jpg]

(Wichita Eagle)

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recently released a startling report<http://www.kdheks.gov/hci/as/2012/AS_2012.pdf> [1](PDF) showing a 30 percent increase in suicides from 2011. Nationwide, the number of deaths by suicide surpassed the number of deaths by motor vehicle accidents<http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6217a1.htm?s_cid=mm6217a1_w> [2] in 2009, the most recent year for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided data.

The Wichita Eagle reports<http://www.kansas.com/2013/10/20/3068874/suicide-rate-climbs-by-30-percent.html#storylink=cpy> [3] that the largest increase in suicides in Kansas occurred among white males, who already were the segment of the population most likely to take their own lives. More than 80 percent of suicides in Kansas last year were men, like Scott Dennis, a 42-year-old fitness company owner.

Last year, Dennis was busy getting ready for an industry convention in Las Vegas.

Dennis had already paid for a $20,000 sponsored dinner, booked his flight, hotel and rental car and sent out some work e-mails.

He showered and shaved. He packed his bag.

“He wrote a note that said, ‘I can’t live like this anymore,’ and left his wallet and his watch on his desk, drove to Wal-Mart down the street and shot himself in the chest,” said Brook Phillips, a friend of Dennis for 35 years.

Nationally, the CDC reported<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june13/suicide_05-03.html> [4] a spike in suicide rates in 2010 among the middle-aged, a 28 percent rise overall, a 40 percent jump among white Americans, and among men in their 50s, suicides increased by more than 48 percent. Guns remained the leading method used in all suicides, followed by poisoning, overdoses, and suffocation.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC told PBS: “We don’t know what specifically is causing [the suicide spike], but the trend has been consistent, and if anything our numbers would underestimate the gravity of the problem.”

Frieden also commented that more people die from prescription opiates today than from heroin and cocaine combined, and called alcohol a “significant contributor to depression and to mental health problems.”

But many people consume opiates and alcohol to self-medicate, or to escape their dire economic circumstances. One popular theory floated to explain the suicide epidemic is that the recession has caused emotional trauma in individuals.

Pat Smith<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/suicide-rate-rises-middle-aged_n_3203936.html> [5], the violence-prevention program coordinator for the Michigan Department of Community Health, told The Huffington Post the recession may have pushed already troubled people over the edge. Being unable to find a job or settling for one with lower pay or prestige could add “that final weight to a whole chain of events,” she said.

There does appear to be a correlation between the recession and increasing suicide rates. For example, calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline increased by 36 percent<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/suicide-rates-up-since-re_n_658668.html> [6] in 2008, and another 15 percent in 2009.

Data compiled by The Wall Street Journal<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125892118623059701.html> [7] in late 2009 showed increases in several states. Of 19 states surveyed, 13 saw marginal increases in suicide rates. Tennessee had the highest rate of increase, with over 15 percent more suicides in 2008 than 2007. Across the 19 states, the average increase was 2.3 percent.

And as The Huffington Post notes, this same trend was also seen during the Great Depression, when the suicide rate increased by 21 percent in the early 1930s (about 17 of every 100,000 people<http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/great-depression.htm> [8]).

Even though there have been horrific stories in the news related to the nation’s poor mental health care of its citizens (Aaron Alexis’ attack in Washington’s Navy Yard and Miriam Carey’s murder by DC police), officials seem determined to continue slashing funding. From 2009 to 2011, states cut mental budgets by a combined $4 billion<http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/10/mental-health-loses-funding-as-government-continues-shutdown/> [9], the largest single combined reduction to mental health spending since de-institutionalization in the 1970s.

In Chicago alone, state budget cuts combined with reductions in county and city mental health services led to shutting six of the city’s 12 mental health clinics, Forbes reports.

Threats of sequestration<http://blog.usa.gov/post/44071444149/what-is-sequestration> [10] in 2013 had a significant impact on people’s ability to access mental health services and programs, including children’s mental health services, suicide prevention programs, homeless outreach programs, substance abuse treatment programs, housing and employment assistance, health research, and virtually every type of public mental health support. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration<http://www.samhsa.gov/> [11] (SAMHSA) claimed it alone would be cutting $168 million from its 2013 spending, including a reduction of $83.1 million in grants<http://careforyourmind.org/how-the-federal-government-sequestration-impacts-mental-health-services/> [12] for substance abuse treatment programs.

Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!<https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_page_id=122425&cds_response_key=I12SART1> [13]

Since 2009, a community health center in Sedgwick County, Kansas, has lost 53 percent of its state funding, according to Marilyn Cook, executive director of Comcare of Sedwick County. She told The Wichita Eagle the county is trying to appeal to the state to replace some of that money.

“This is a community problem and a public health problem, not just a mental health problem,” Cook said. “Treatment dollars have gone down and more and more people are coming to us, a growing number without any other payment for services.”

She said they’ve seen an increase in the number of calls to the crisis program and more law enforcement officers have been trained in crisis intervention, which is a good thing, she said, but “without adequate funding, it’s difficult for us to get to everybody who needs care and help.”

In 2012, Sedgwick County 911 dispatch received more than 2,400 calls related to suicide threats or attempts and more than 61,000 crisis phone calls for suicide risk or urgent mental health help.

Liz McGinness, a member of the Sedgwick County Suicide Prevention Coalition and a retired school psychologist and mental health crisis team director for USD 259, says the suicides may be related to social stigmas and the economy.

“I think one of the biggest things we can rally around is reducing stigma and talking about getting help,” McGinness said.

…

“There has been an uptick in suicides in middle-class, white professional men.… We do likely attribute that incidence as being related to the economy, for men particularly. So much of their identity is tied up in their job, and they lose their moorings.”

Greg Kaufmann wrote about what defunding Obamacare<http://Even%20though%20suicide%20%20rates%20are%20climbing,%20the%20government%20continues%20to%20slash%20mental%20health%20%20budgets.> [14] really means for those in need.

________________________________

Source URL: http://www.thenation.com/blog/176745/suicide-rate-climbs-30-percent-kansas-government-slashes-mental-health-budgets

Links:

[1] http://www.kdheks.gov/hci/as/2012/AS_2012.pdf

[2] http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6217a1.htm?s_cid=mm6217a1_w

[3] http://www.kansas.com/2013/10/20/3068874/suicide-rate-climbs-by-30-percent.html#storylink=cpy

[4] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june13/suicide_05-03.html

[5] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/suicide-rate-rises-middle-aged_n_3203936.html

[6] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/suicide-rates-up-since-re_n_658668.html

[7] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125892118623059701.html

[8] http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/great-depression.htm

[9] http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/10/mental-health-loses-funding-as-government-continues-shutdown/

[10] http://blog.usa.gov/post/44071444149/what-is-sequestration

[11] http://www.samhsa.gov/

[12] http://careforyourmind.org/how-the-federal-government-sequestration-impacts-mental-health-services/

[13] https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_page_id=122425&cds_response_key=I12SART1

[14] http://Even though suicide rates are climbing, the government continues to slash mental health budgets.

[The Nation]

Published on The Nation (http://www.thenation.com) ________________________________ Suicide Rate Climbs by 30 Percent in Kansas as Government Slashes Mental Health Budgets Allison Kilkenny | October 21, 2013

[http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/user/255496/kansassuicides_wichitaeagle_img.jpg]

(Wichita Eagle)

Last year, Dennis was busy getting ready for an industry convention in Las Vegas.

Dennis had already paid for a $20,000 sponsored dinner, booked his flight, hotel and rental car and sent out some work e-mails.

He showered and shaved. He packed his bag.

In Chicago alone, state budget cuts combined with reductions in county and city mental health services led to shutting six of the city’s 12 mental health clinics, Forbes reports.

Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!<https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_page_id=122425&cds_response_key=I12SART1> [13]

In 2012, Sedgwick County 911 dispatch received more than 2,400 calls related to suicide threats or attempts and more than 61,000 crisis phone calls for suicide risk or urgent mental health help.

“I think one of the biggest things we can rally around is reducing stigma and talking about getting help,” McGinness said.

…

________________________________

Source URL: http://www.thenation.com/blog/176745/suicide-rate-climbs-30-percent-kansas-government-slashes-mental-health-budgets

Links:

[1] http://www.kdheks.gov/hci/as/2012/AS_2012.pdf

[2] http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6217a1.htm?s_cid=mm6217a1_w

[3] http://www.kansas.com/2013/10/20/3068874/suicide-rate-climbs-by-30-percent.html#storylink=cpy

[4] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june13/suicide_05-03.html

[5] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/suicide-rate-rises-middle-aged_n_3203936.html

[6] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/suicide-rates-up-since-re_n_658668.html

[7] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125892118623059701.html

[8] http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/great-depression.htm

[9] http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/10/mental-health-loses-funding-as-government-continues-shutdown/

[10] http://blog.usa.gov/post/44071444149/what-is-sequestration

[11] http://www.samhsa.gov/

[12] http://careforyourmind.org/how-the-federal-government-sequestration-impacts-mental-health-services/

[13] https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_page_id=122425&cds_response_key=I12SART1

[14] http://Even though suicide rates are climbing, the government continues to slash mental health budgets.

KanCare to Adopt Health Home model for Mentally Ill.

Amy Campbell — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 20:04:57 GMT

TOPEKA - Kansas Medicaid officials are preparing for a new phase of KanCare that will target services to the seriously mentally ill.

They will be using a “health home” model that appears to be producing good undefined though preliminary undefined results in other states and which will allow Kansas to draw additional federal aid dollars as part of the Affordable Care Act.

Among the goals of federal and state officials in using the model is to reduce emergency room visits and hospital readmissions among Medicaid enrollees. Read KHI Article.

State Seeks Input on What to Do with Rainbow Mental Health Facility

Amy Campbell — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 20:03:41 GMT

TOPEKA - State welfare officials are seeking recommendations on what to do with Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City. The hospital has been mostly closed since November 2011 after failing state fire marshal inspections. The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, which oversees the four state hospitals, is publishing a formal Request for Information or RFI to get ideas or proposals for how to move forward with the facility.

The public has until August 5th to submit recommendations. Read KHI Article.

Kansas Legislature Wraps Up on 99th Day

Amy Campbell — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 07:00:59 GMT

The Budget Bill - H Sub for SB 171

After adopting the one and only budget bill of the 2013 Legislative Session, the Kansas Senate adjourned around 2:00 a.m. Although June 2nd would technically be the 100th day, it counts as 99 since they worked straight through from Saturday, June 1st.

Both the House and Senate had to have a Call to adopt the one and only budget bill of the 2013 session, where the doors are locked and everyone is supposed to report to the chamber to vote, while hesitant legislators are cajoled and/or more forcefully convinced to vote for the bill at hand. Each chamber was then able to manage to get just the majority needed to pass the bill - House Substitute for SB 171. In the House, the vote was 63-51. In the Senate, 21-15. No Democrats supported the bill.

It is an ugly budget - every legislator could easily name at least one objectionable facet of the bill. The items that garnered the most attention were cuts to higher education - the Regents Institutions, cuts to the Department of Corrections that one senator suggested would create a "catch and release" policy, large sweeps of funds from Transportation and other agencies - including $9.5 million from tobacco dollars that are supposed to be earmarked for children's programs, and the fact that the budget bill did not include a carveout for the long term services and supports for intellectually and developmentally disabled populations from KanCare. $202 million in additional bonding debt was included over the protests of many legislators, to fund a larger than expected state share of the NBAF project in Manhattan.

The policy that may end up having the most impact is a House created salaries and wages cap based on funding spent up to March of this fiscal year. That policy is certain to prevent agencies - such as State Hospitals - from being able to fill important staff positions that have been held open to hold down expenses. Some of these positions have been unfilled for months or years now.

See budget bill description here.

Hospital and Home Team Releases Report on Rainbow Mental Health Facility

Amy Campbell — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:05:51 GMT

The Hospital and Home Team, convened by the Kansas Department on Aging and Disability Services, released a report this month reviewing the Mercer Study and making recommendations on alternative uses of the Rainbow Mental Health Facility.

Read the report here.

Employers Eye Bare-Bones Health Plans Under New Law

Amy Campbell — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:59:20 GMT

Employers are increasingly recognizing they may be able to avoid certain penalties under the federal health law by offering very limited plans ... Read more.

Update on the Governor's Mental Health Initiative planning process

Amy Campbell — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:00:00 GMT

In January, Governor Brownback initiated his Mental Health Initiative, which canceled proposed cuts to mental health grants and funding for at-risk children. The Initiative proposes to continue $5 million in mental health grants to community mental health centers and re-purpose $4.75 million from the Family Centered Systems of Care to focus on regional resources for difficult to engage Kansans with serious mental illness. The mental health community has welcomed the attention to the system, and is working with the Kansas Department on Aging and Disability Services for planning. At this point, there are four identifiable planning activities associated with the initiative:

1. Regional Recovery and Supports Centers (RRSC) Advisory Committee

2. Contract Revision Committee

3. Stakeholder meetings (held in May) See presentation.

4. GBHPSC Task Force Review of Mental Health System (not yet appointed by the Governor)

There are difficult tasks to be accomplished here. So far, the agency has identified the target population and a map of the regions - each will have a lead community mental health center for its Regional Recovery and Supports Centers grants. According to planning documents, the target population is individuals who are uninsured and under-insured and are at risk of being admitted to state or local hospitals due to a lack of engagement or demonstrated ability to follow a treatment plan. This may include individuals who use crisis services but never engage in other services offered by the CMHCs. Also included are those who keep appointments inconsistently and tend to be elusive or "on the fringes".

What is not yet clear are the services currently being provided under the Family Centered Systems of Care program that might be lost and what will be continued under each centers' ability to absorb those costs under different funding streams.

Initial planning indicates that the regions will design their own programs based on a needs assessment of the region. This process is supposed to include cooperation among the centers and stakeholders in the region, to develop a collaborative program of resource sharing. The

Information is available at a special website developed by KDADS - www.bhsupdates.org.

KMHC members are engaged in various levels of this planning process and will continue to have monthly updates at regular meetings. The Coalition is hopeful that this Initiative will be able to build on the work that has already been done in Kansas to introduce effective programs regionally that may eventually be implemented statewide. The fact that this Initiative will not bring new money into the system makes it a daunting challenge, so the program must have a realistic focus.

See events page for more information about the monthly meetings.

KHI Article highlights Stakeholder Concerns about Governor's Mental Health Initiative

Amy Campbell — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:36:07 GMT

See link below for the KHI article about the Manhattan RRSC stakeholder meeting.

http://www.khi.org/news/2013/may/16/governors-mental-health-initiative-panned-manhatte/