Laura Kelly seeks funding for Kansas disability programs as waitlist balloons to new highs

Gov. Laura Kelly proposed a $23 million investment in Intellectual/Developmental Disability and Physical Disability waivers, programs in which recipients may wait over a decade before receiving care.

I/DD and PD waivers are Medicaid-supported programs allowing people with intellectual or physical disabilities to access medical and support services. I/DD waivers include things like adult day services, residential support and specialized medical care, while PD waivers cover home-delivered meals, personal care services and emergency response systems.

“You have to have really significant impacts against three of seven major life functions,” Rocky Nichols, executive director of Disability Rights Center of Kansas, said in an interview last month. “To be found eligible, your disability must be so significant that you cannot even persist at the most menial of tasks and have a job.”

Kansas contracts with providers to service about 9,100 people with an I/DD waiver and 6,100 with a PD waiver, but over the last few years a backlog of people steadily grew as more people applied than their were slots available. As of the last report in January, over 5,000 applicants are on the I/DD Waitlist and over 2,300 are on the PD waitlist.

That can result in years relying on family or friends for services covered under the waiver programs.

Over the past couple of years, the state put more money into reimbursing rates for service providers that work with intellectually or physically disabled people, which are industries that are demanding and don’t pay well.

“As we’ve heard from disability advocates and families, Kansans with disabilities need the essential services and care provided by these waivers to live comfortably. While we work to build a more comprehensive network of disability services providers, I am committed to reducing the wait times for waiver services,” Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said in a news release.

The program has attracted scrutiny from opposition leaders, who use it as a point of criticism as the governor attempts to expand Medicaid after multiple failed attempts.

“Republicans have been advocating for addressing the I/DD waiver waitlist for months now because of the dismal years-long wait times and record-high numbers under the leadership of Laura Kelly,” Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins said in a news release. “Sadly, the Governor has never proposed any funding increases to the HCBS waitlist during her tenure and just this year decreased their funding from last year in her budget.”

Though the governor hasn’t addressed the I/DD and PDD waitlists, the Legislature has also been reluctant to put more money into the program. During Kelly’s tenure as governor, it only proposed putting money into waitlists once in 2020 when it approved $4.3 million for each waitlist.

The $23 million the governor is putting toward the service now will fund 500 slots between the I/DD and PD waiver programs. Disability rights advocates said it's pleased with the governor’s decision, which would reduce the I/DD waitlist by about 5% and the PD waitlist by 10%, but called for even greater investments in the program.

More: Why Kansans are waiting a decade-plus for aid for developmentally disabled family members

“This is the first step in a long appropriations process. We strongly encourage the Kansas Legislature to add significant dollars to the Governor’s budget to reduce both waitlists by at least 20% so that 2024 becomes the first year of a five-year plan to eliminate the wait for HCBS in Kansas," Nichols and Sara Hart Weir, executive director of the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, said in a joint statement.

The governor’s budgetary recommendations will be tweaked by the budget committee and the Legislature over the next few months. The Legislature usually passes a second omnibus budget bill late in the session.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly seeks funding increase for disability waitlist