KDADS to Implement Waitlist for Frail Elderly HCBS Waiver Effective July 6, 2026

TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) announced today that a waitlist for the Frail Elderly Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver will take effect today, July 6, 2026, due to the Legislature allotting insufficient funding in the face of continued high demand for services that exceeds the currently available waiver slots. This waiver allows for individuals to live in their own homes and communities who would otherwise require more expensive nursing home services.

"We are seeing continued high demand for the Frail Elderly HCBS waiver, reflecting the growing need for critical services that allow Kansans to receive the care they need closer to home," said KDADS Long Term Services and Supports Commissioner Michele Heydon. "While we are implementing a waitlist for new applicants, KDADS remains committed to processing everyone currently in the pipeline and managing the waitlist as fairly and transparently as possible."

The need for a waitlist, and the associated high cost, stems from the Legislature's refusal to fulfill a funding request by Governor Laura Kelly in her 2025 Governor's Budget Report (GBR). In the 2025 GBR, Governor Kelly recommended an enhancement of $16.1 million in All Funds, including $6.3 million in State General Funds, for the Frail Elderly waiver to prevent a waitlist. The Legislature ignored this request and did not provide any enhancements for the waiver in the 2025 legislative session. As a result, the Legislature was forced to expend over twice as much funding during the 2026 legislative session - $39.5 million in All Funds, including $15 million in State General Funds - to cover the current HCBS Frail Elderly waiver services overages and to formally establish a waitlist for such waiver services, as demand for the waiver has outpaced both available openings and funding.

"Unfortunately, we are in a situation where the state is having to establish a waitlist and expend more funding than originally anticipated to provide crucial services to Kansans who desperately need them because the Legislature ignored Governor Kelly's initial 2025 funding request to prevent the need for a waitlist in the first place," KDADS Secretary Laura Howard said. "This is an example of why consistent investment in these services is crucial both to the fiscal health of the State as well as our ability to ensure older Kansans have access to quality, cost-effective long-term services and supports."

The program typically experiences a monthly turnover of 250 to 275 individuals. There are 577 individuals with applications being processed who have received KDADS program eligibility approval and will not be placed on the waitlist.

Effective today, any new individuals assessed for the Frail Elderly HCBS waiver on or after July 6, 2026, will be placed on the waitlist. All applicants currently in the eligibility pipeline will proceed without interruption. KDADS has notified its partners, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (financial eligibility team), Maximus (assessment organization), Liberty (Aging and Disability Resource Center intake), and the Administrative Case Management (ACM) contractor (Kansas Area Agencies on Aging), to inform new applicants that a waitlist is now in effect for assessments conducted on or after this date.

In its ongoing work to support aging Kansans through expanded capacity and efficient management of this waiver, KDADS is implementing a crisis exception policy to address the urgent needs of individuals in crisis by allowing them to skip the waitlist and receive critical services more quickly. This policy will become active today, July 6, 2026, and may be amended as the program progresses.

Additional details for applicants, families, and service providers will be shared via email and on the KDADS website.