§ 75-7435 — Quality care assessments for skilled nursing care facilities; imposition and administration by department of health and environment; rules and regulations; collection and disposition; quality care fund; authorized uses; conditions and limitations; quality care improvement panel; reporting requirements; expiration of statute

(a) As used in this section unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) Words and phrases mean the same as defined by K.S.A. 39-923, and amendments thereto.
(2) "Skilled nursing care facility" means a licensed nursing facility, nursing facility for mental health as defined in K.S.A. 39-923, and amendments thereto, or a hospital long-term care unit licensed by the department of health and environment, providing skilled nursing care, but shall not include the Kansas soldiers' home or the Kansas veterans' home.
(3) "Licensed bed" means those beds within a skilled nursing care facility that the facility is licensed to operate.
(4) "Agent" means the Kansas department for aging and disability services.
(5) "Continuing care retirement facility" means a facility holding a certificate of registration issued by the commissioner of insurance pursuant to K.S.A. 40-2235, and amendments thereto.
(b) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, there is hereby imposed and the secretary of health and environment shall assess an annual assessment per licensed bed, hereinafter called a quality care assessment, on each skilled nursing care facility. The assessment on all facilities in the aggregate shall be an amount fixed by rules and regulations of the secretary of health and environment, shall not exceed $4,908 annually per licensed bed, shall be imposed as an amount per licensed bed and shall be imposed uniformly on all skilled nursing care facilities except that the assessment rate for skilled nursing care facilities that are part of a continuing care retirement facility, small skilled nursing care facilities and high medicaid volume skilled nursing care facilities shall not exceed 1 / 6 of the actual amount assessed all other skilled nursing care facilities. No rules and regulations of the secretary of health and environment shall grant any exception to or exemption from the quality care assessment. The assessment shall be paid quarterly, with one fourth of the annual amount due by the 30 th day after the end of the month of each calendar quarter. The secretary of health and environment is authorized to establish delayed payment schedules for skilled nursing care facilities that are unable to make quarterly payments when due under this section due to financial difficulties, as determined by the secretary of health and environment. As used in this paragraph, the terms "small skilled nursing care facilities" and "high medicaid volume skilled nursing care facilities" shall be defined by the secretary of health and environment by rules and regulations, except that the definition of "small skilled nursing care facility" shall not be fewer than 40 beds.
(2) Beds licensed after July 1 each year shall pay a prorated amount of the applicable annual assessment so that the assessment applies only for the days such new beds are licensed. The proration shall be calculated by multiplying the applicable assessment by the percentage of days the beds are licensed during the year. Any change that reduces the number of licensed beds in a facility shall not result in a refund being issued to the skilled nursing care facility.
(3) If an entity conducts, operates or maintains more than one licensed skilled nursing care facility, the entity shall pay the nursing facility assessment for each facility separately. No skilled nursing care facility shall create a separate line-item charge for the purpose of passing through the quality care assessment to residents. No skilled nursing care facility shall be guaranteed, expressly or otherwise, that any additional moneys paid to the facility under this section will equal or exceed the amount of its quality care assessment.
(4) The payment of the quality care assessment to the secretary of health and environment shall be an allowable cost for medicaid reimbursement purposes. A rate adjustment pursuant to subsection (d)(5) shall be made effective on the date of imposition of the assessment, to reimburse the portion of this cost imposed on medicaid days.
(5) The secretary of health and environment shall seek a waiver from the United States department of health and human services to allow the state to impose varying levels of assessments on skilled nursing care facilities based on specified criteria. It is the intent of the legislature that the waiver sought by the secretary of health and environment be structured to minimize the negative fiscal impact on certain classes of skilled nursing care facilities.
(c) Each skilled nursing care facility shall prepare and submit to the secretary of health and environment any additional information required and requested by the secretary of health and environment to implement or administer the provisions of this section. Each skilled nursing care facility shall prepare and submit quarterly to the secretary for aging and disability services the rate the facility charges to private pay residents, and the secretary shall cause this information to be posted on the web site of the department for aging and disability services.
(d) (1) There is hereby created in the state treasury the quality care fund to be administered by the secretary of health and environment. All moneys received for the assessments imposed pursuant to subsection (b), including any penalty assessments imposed thereon pursuant to subsection (e), shall be remitted to the state treasurer in accordance with K.S.A. 75-4215, and amendments thereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the state treasurer shall deposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the credit of the quality care fund. All expenditures from the quality care fund shall be made in accordance with appropriation acts upon warrants of the director of accounts and reports issued pursuant to vouchers approved by the secretary of health and environment or the secretary's agent.
(2) All moneys in the quality care fund shall be used to finance initiatives to maintain or improve the quantity and quality of skilled nursing care in skilled nursing care facilities in Kansas. No moneys credited to the quality care fund shall be transferred to or otherwise revert to the state general fund at any time. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, if any moneys credited to the quality care fund are transferred or otherwise revert to the state general fund, 30 days following the transfer or reversion the quality care assessment shall terminate and the secretary of health and environment shall discontinue the imposition, assessment and collection of the assessment. Upon termination of the assessment, all collected assessment revenues, including the moneys inappropriately transferred or reverting to the state general fund, less any amounts expended by the secretary of health and environment, shall be returned on a pro rata basis to skilled nursing care facilities that paid the assessment.
(3) Any moneys received by the state of Kansas from the federal government as a result of federal financial participation in the state medicaid program that are derived from the quality care assessment shall be deposited in the quality care fund and used to finance actions to maintain or increase healthcare in skilled nursing care facilities.
(4) Moneys in the fund shall be used exclusively for the following purposes:
(A) To pay administrative expenses incurred by the secretary of health and environment or the agent in performing the activities authorized by this section, except that such expenses shall not exceed a total of 1% of the aggregate assessment funds collected pursuant to subsection (b) for the prior fiscal year;
(B) to increase nursing facility payments to fund covered services to medicaid beneficiaries within medicare upper payment limits, as may be negotiated;
(C) to reimburse the medicaid share of the quality care assessment as a pass-through medicaid allowable cost;
(D) to restore the medicaid rate reductions implemented January 1, 2010;
(E) to restore funding for fiscal year 2010, including rebasing and inflation to be applied to rates in fiscal year 2011; and
(F) the remaining amount, if any, shall be expended first to increase the direct health care costs center limitation up to 150% of the case mix adjusted median, and then, if there are remaining amounts, for other quality care enhancement of skilled nursing care facilities as approved by the quality care improvement panel but shall not be used directly or indirectly to replace existing state expenditures for payments to skilled nursing care facilities for providing services pursuant to the state medicaid program.
(5) Any moneys received by a skilled nursing care facility from the quality care fund shall not be expended by any skilled nursing care facility to provide for bonuses or profit-sharing for any officer, employee or parent corporation but may be used to pay to employees who are providing direct care to a resident of such facility.
(6) Adjustment payments may be paid quarterly or within the daily medicaid rate to reimburse covered medicaid expenditures in the aggregate within the upper payment limits.
(7) On or before the 10 th day of each month, the director of accounts and reports shall transfer from the state general fund to the quality care fund interest earnings based on:
(A) The average daily balance of moneys in the quality care fund for the preceding month; and
(B) the net earnings rate of the pooled money investment portfolio for the preceding month.
(e) If a skilled nursing care facility fails to pay the full amount of the quality care assessment imposed pursuant to subsection (b), when due and payable, including any extensions of time granted under that subsection, the secretary of health and environment shall assess a penalty in the amount of the lesser of $500 per day or 2% of the quality care assessment owed for each day the assessment is delinquent. The secretary of health and environment is authorized to establish delayed payment schedules for skilled nursing care facilities that are unable to make installment payments when due under this section because of financial difficulties, as determined by the secretary of health and environment.
(f) (1) The secretary of health and environment shall assess and collect quality care assessments imposed pursuant to subsection (b), including any penalty assessments imposed thereon pursuant to subsection (e), from skilled nursing care facilities on and after July 1, 2010, except that no assessments or penalties shall be assessed under subsections (a) through (h) until:
(A) An amendment to the state plan for medicaid that increases the rates of payments made to skilled nursing care facilities for providing services pursuant to the federal medicaid program and that is proposed for approval for purposes of subsections (a) through (h) is approved by the federal government, in which case the initial assessment is due not earlier than 60 days after state plan approval; and
(B) the skilled nursing care facilities have been compensated retroactively within 60 days after state plan approval at the increased rate for services provided pursuant to the federal medicaid program for the period commencing on and after July 1, 2010.
(2) The secretary of health and environment shall implement and administer the provisions of subsections (a) through (h) in a manner consistent with applicable federal medicaid laws and regulations. The secretary of health and environment shall seek any necessary approvals by the federal government that are required for the implementation of subsections (a) through (h).
(3) The provisions of subsections (a) through (h) shall be null and void and shall have no force and effect if one of the following occur:
(A) The medicaid plan amendment that increases the rates of payments made to skilled nursing care facilities for providing services pursuant to the federal medicaid program and that is proposed for approval for purposes of subsections (a) through (h) is not approved by the United States centers for medicare and medicaid services;
(B) the rates of payments made to skilled nursing care facilities for providing services pursuant to the federal medicaid program are reduced below the rates calculated on December 31, 2009, increased by revenues in the quality care fund and matched by federal financial participation and rebasing as provided for in K.S.A. 75-5958, and amendments thereto;
(C) any funds are utilized to supplant funding for skilled nursing care facilities as required by subsection (g);
(D) any funds are diverted from those purposes set forth in subsection (d)(4); or
(E) upon the governor signing, or allowing to become law without signature, legislation that, by proviso or otherwise, directs any funds from those purposes set forth in subsection (d)(4) or that would propose to suspend the operation of this section.
(g) On and after July 1, 2010, reimbursement rates for skilled nursing care facilities shall be restored to those in effect during December 2009. No funds generated by the assessments or federal funds generated therefrom shall be utilized for such restoration, but such funds may be used to restore the rate reduction in effect from January 1, 2010, to June 30, 2010.
(h) Rates of reimbursement shall not be limited by private pay charges.
(i) If the provisions of subsections (a) through (h) are repealed, expire or become null and void and have no further force and effect, all moneys in the quality care fund that were paid under the provisions of subsections (a) through (h) shall be returned to the skilled nursing care facilities that paid such moneys on the basis on which such payments were assessed and paid pursuant to subsections (a) through (h).
(j) The department of health and environment may adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
(k) For purposes of administering and selecting the reimbursements of moneys in the quality care assessment fund, the quality care improvement panel is hereby established. The panel shall consist of the following members: Two persons appointed by leadingage Kansas; two persons appointed by the Kansas health care association; one person appointed by Kansas advocates for better care; one person appointed by the Kansas hospital association; one person appointed by the governor who is a member of the Kansas adult care executives association; one person appointed by the governor who is a skilled nursing care facility resident or the family member of such a resident; one person appointed by the Kansas foundation for medical care; one person appointed by the governor from the department for aging and disability services; one person appointed by the governor from the department of health and environment; one person appointed by the president of the senate who is affiliated with an organization representing and advocating the interests of retired persons in Kansas; and one person appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives who is a volunteer with the office of the state long-term care ombudsman established by the long-term care ombudsman act. The person appointed by the governor from the department for aging and disability services and the person appointed by the governor from the department of health and environment shall be nonvoting members of the panel. The panel shall meet as soon as possible subsequent to the effective date of this act and shall elect a chairperson from among the members appointed by the trade organizations specified in this subsection. The members of the quality care improvement panel shall serve without compensation or expenses. The quality care improvement panel shall report annually on or before January 10 to the senate committees on public health and welfare and ways and means, the house committees on appropriations and health and human services and the Robert G. (Bob) Bethell joint committee on home and community based services and KanCare oversight concerning the progress to reduce the incidence of antipsychotic drug use in elders with dementia, participation in the nursing facility quality and efficiency outcome incentive factor, participation in the culture change and person-centered care incentive program, annual resident satisfaction ratings for Kansas skilled nursing care facilities and the activities of the panel during the preceding calendar year and any recommendations that the panel may have concerning the administration of and expenditures from the quality care assessment fund.
(l) The provisions of this section shall expire on July 1, 2030.

Legislative History

L. 2010, ch. 159, § 1; L. 2012, ch. 102, § 53; L. 2013, ch. 55, § 1; L. 2016, ch. 107, § 2; L. 2020, ch. 7, § 3; April 9.