Read the full stored bill text
HOUSE BILL No. 2520
AN A CT concerning adult care homes; relating to the adult care home licensure act;
amending the definition of home plus to increase the cap of residents from 12 to 16;
amending K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 39-923 and repealing the existing section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 39-923 is hereby amended to read as
follows: 39-923. (a) As used in this act:
(1) "Adult care home" means any nursing facility, nursing facility
for mental health, intermediate care facility for people with intellectual
disability, assisted living facility, residential healthcare facility, home
plus, boarding care home and adult day care facility, all of which are
classifications of adult care homes and are required to be licensed by
the secretary for aging and disability services.
(2) "Nursing facility" means any place or facility operating 24
hours a day, seven days a week, caring for six or more individuals not
related within the third degree of relationship to the administrator or
owner by blood or marriage and who, due to functional impairments,
need skilled nursing care to compensate for activities of daily living
limitations.
(3) "Nursing facility for mental health" means any place or facility
operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, caring for six or more
individuals not related within the third degree of relationship to the
administrator or owner by blood or marriage and who, due to functional
impairments, need skilled nursing care and special mental health
services to compensate for activities of daily living limitations.
(4) "Intermediate care facility for people with intellectual
disability" means any place or facility operating 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, caring for four or more individuals not related within the
third degree of relationship to the administrator or owner by blood or
marriage and who, due to functional impairments caused by intellectual
disability or related conditions, need services to compensate for
activities of daily living limitations.
(5) "Assisted living facility" means any place or facility caring for
six or more individuals not related within the third degree of
relationship to the administrator, operator or owner by blood or
marriage and who, by choice or due to functional impairments, may
need personal care and supervised nursing care to compensate for
activities of daily living limitations and in which the place or facility
includes apartments for residents and provides or coordinates a range of
services, including personal care or supervised nursing care that is
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the support of resident
independence. The provision of skilled nursing procedures to a resident
in an assisted living facility is not prohibited by this act. Generally, the
skilled services provided in an assisted living facility shall be provided
on an intermittent or limited term basis, or if limited in scope, a regular
basis.
(6) "Residential healthcare facility" means any place or facility, or
a contiguous portion of a place or facility, caring for six or more
individuals not related within the third degree of relationship to the
administrator, operator or owner by blood or marriage and who, by
choice or due to functional impairments, may need personal care and
supervised nursing care to compensate for activities of daily living
limitations and where such place or facility includes individual living
units and provides or coordinates personal care or supervised nursing
care that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the support
of resident independence. The provision of skilled nursing procedures
to a resident in a residential healthcare facility is not prohibited by this
act. Generally, the skilled services provided in a residential healthcare
facility shall be provided on an intermittent or limited term basis, or if
limited in scope, a regular basis.
HOUSE BILL No. 2520—page 2
(7) "Home plus" means any residence or facility caring for not
more than 12 16 individuals not related within the third degree of
relationship to the operator or owner by blood or marriage unless the
resident in need of care is approved for placement by the secretary for
children and families, and who such resident , due to functional
impairment, needs personal care and may need supervised nursing care
to compensate for activities of daily living limitations. The level of care
provided to residents shall be determined by preparation of the staff and
rules and regulations developed by the Kansas department for aging
and disability services. An adult care home may convert a portion of
one wing of the facility to a not less fewer than five-bed but not more
than 12-bed 16-bed home plus facility if the home plus facility remains
separate from the adult care home and each facility remains contiguous.
Any home plus that provides care for more than eight individuals after
the effective date of this act shall adjust staffing personnel and
resources as necessary to meet residents' needs in order to maintain the
current level of nursing care standards. Any home plus that provides
care for more than 12 individuals on and after July 1, 2026, shall
develop and maintain written plans demonstrating the ability of such
home plus to meet residents' needs, respond to emergencies and
maintain resident health and safety at the increased capacity. Such
plans shall be available for review during survey or inspection to
ensure that the home plus has the capacity to safely serve additional
residents without diminishing the quality of care. Personnel of any
home plus who provide services for residents with dementia shall be
required to take annual dementia care training.
(8) "Boarding care home" means any place or facility operating 24
hours a day, seven days a week, caring for not more than 10 individuals
not related within the third degree of relationship to the operator or
owner by blood or marriage and who, due to functional impairment,
need supervision of activities of daily living but who are ambulatory
and essentially capable of managing their own care and affairs.
(9) "Continuing care retirement community" means any place or
facility that combines a range of housing and services to encompass the
continuum of aging care needs provided at an independent living
facility, an assisted living facility, a residential healthcare facility, home
plus or a skilled nursing care facility within a single place or facility to
avoid the need for residents to relocate to a separate place or facility.
The provision of community care includes the multiple levels of care
provided as part of a continuing care retirement community.
(10) "Adult day care" means any place or facility operating less
than 24 hours a day caring for individuals not related within the third
degree of relationship to the operator or owner by blood or marriage
and who, due to functional impairment, need supervision of or
assistance with activities of daily living.
(11) "Place or facility" means a building or , any one or more
complete floors of a building, or any one or more complete wings of a
building, or any one or more complete wings and one or more complete
floors of a building. "Place or facility" includes multiple buildings.
(12) "Skilled nursing care" means services performed by or under
the immediate supervision of a registered professional nurse and
additional licensed nursing personnel. Skilled nursing includes
administration of medications and treatments as prescribed by a
licensed physician or dentist and other nursing functions that require
substantial nursing judgment and skill based on the knowledge and
application of scientific principles.
(13) "Supervised nursing care" means services provided by or
under the guidance of a licensed nurse with initial direction for nursing
procedures and periodic inspection of the actual act of accomplishing
the procedures, administration of medications and treatments as
prescribed by a licensed physician or dentist and assistance of residents
with the performance of activities of daily living.
(14) "Resident" means all individuals kept, cared for, treated,
boarded or otherwise accommodated in any adult care home.
HOUSE BILL No. 2520—page 3
(15) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership,
corporation, company, association or joint-stock association, and the
legal successor thereof.
(16) "Operate an adult care home" means to own, lease, sublease,
establish, maintain, conduct the affairs of or manage an adult care
home, except that for the purposes of this definition the words "own"
and "lease" do not include hospital districts, cities and counties that
hold title to an adult care home purchased or constructed through the
sale of bonds.
(17) "Licensing agency" means the secretary for aging and
disability services.
(18) "Skilled nursing home" means a nursing facility.
(19) "Intermediate nursing care home" means a nursing facility.
(20) "Apartment" means a private unit that includes, but is not
limited to, a toilet room with bathing facilities, a kitchen, sleeping,
living and storage area and a lockable door.
(21) "Individual living unit" means a private unit that includes, but
is not limited to, a toilet room with bathing facilities, sleeping, living
and storage area and a lockable door.
(22) "Operator" means an individual registered pursuant to the
operator registration act, K.S.A. 39-973 et seq., and amendments
thereto, who may be appointed by a licensee to have the authority and
responsibility to oversee an assisted living facility or residential
healthcare facility with fewer than 61 residents, a home plus or adult
day care facility.
(23) "Activities of daily living" means those personal, functional
activities required by an individual for continued well-being, including,
but not limited to, eating, nutrition, dressing, personal hygiene,
mobility and toileting.
(24) "Personal care" means care provided by staff to assist an
individual with or to perform activities of daily living.
(25) "Functional impairment" means an individual has
experienced a decline in physical, mental and psychosocial well-being
and, as a result, is unable to compensate for the effects of the decline.
(26) "Kitchen" means a food preparation area that includes a sink,
refrigerator and a microwave oven or stove.
(27) "Intermediate personal care home" means a residential
healthcare facility for purposes of those individuals applying for or
receiving veterans' benefits means residential healthcare facility.
(28) "Paid nutrition assistant" means an individual who is paid to
feed residents of an adult care home, or who is used under an
arrangement with another agency or organization, who is trained by a
person meeting nurse aide instructor qualifications as prescribed by 42
C.F.R. § 483.152, 42 C.F.R. § 483.160 and 42 C.F.R. § 483.35(h) , and
who provides such assistance under the supervision of a registered
professional or licensed practical nurse.
(29) "Medicaid program" means the Kansas program of medical
assistance for which federal or state moneys, or any combination
thereof, are expended or any successor federal or state, or both, health
insurance program or waiver granted thereunder.
(30) "Licensee" means any person or persons acting jointly or
severally who are licensed by the secretary for aging and disability
services pursuant to the adult care home licensure act, K.S.A. 39-923 et
seq., and amendments thereto.
(31) "Insolvent" means that the adult care home or any individual
or entity that operates an adult care home or appears on the adult care
home license and has stopped paying debts in the ordinary course of
business or is unable to pay debts as they come due in the ordinary
course of business.
(b) "Adult care home" does not include institutions operated by
federal or state governments, except institutions operated by the
director of the Kansas office of veterans services, hospitals or
institutions for the treatment and care of psychiatric patients, child care
facilities, maternity centers, hotels, offices of physicians or hospices
HOUSE BILL No. 2520—page 4
that are certified to participate in the medicare program under 42 C.F.R.
§ 418.1 et seq., and provide services only to hospice patients, or centers
approved by the centers for medicare and medicaid services as a
program for all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE) under 42 C.F.R. §
460 et seq., that provides services only to PACE participants.
(c) Nursing facilities in existence on the effective date of this act
changing licensure categories to become residential healthcare facilities
shall be required to provide private bathing facilities in a minimum of
20% of the individual living units.
(d) Facilities licensed under the adult care home licensure act on
the day immediately preceding the effective date of this act shall
continue to be licensed facilities until the annual renewal date of such
license and may renew such license in the appropriate licensure
category under the adult care home licensure act subject to the payment
of fees and other conditions and limitations of such act.
(e) Nursing facilities with fewer than 60 beds converting a portion
of the facility to residential healthcare shall have the option of licensing
for residential healthcare for fewer than six individuals but not less than
10% of the total bed count within a contiguous portion of the facility.
(f) The licensing agency may by rule and regulation change the
name of the different classes of homes when necessary to avoid
confusion in terminology, and such agency may further amend,
substitute, change and, in a manner consistent with the definitions
established in this section, further define and identify the specific acts
and services that shall fall within the respective categories of facilities
so long as if the above categories for adult care homes are used as
guidelines to define and identify the specific acts.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 39-923 is hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
I hereby certify that the above BILL originated in the HOUSE, and passed
that body
Speaker of the House.
Chief Clerk of the House.
Passed the SENATE ______________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.
Secretary of the Senate.
APPROVED __________________________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.