# Kansas HB 2249: Requiring the secretary for aging and disability services to grant physical environment waivers for certain rural emergency hospitals to provide skilled nursing facility care and establishing the south central regional mental health hospital. Kansas HB 2249, Requiring the secretary for aging and disability services to grant physical environment waivers for certain rural emergency hospitals to provide skilled nursing facility care and establishing the south central regional mental health hospital., is a 2025–2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Committee on Health and Human Services; status signed, last action 2025-04-10 (Engrossed on Monday, March 31, 2025); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2249-2025-2026 - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Kansas HB 2249 - State: Kansas - Session: 2025–2026 Regular Session - Title: Requiring the secretary for aging and disability services to grant physical environment waivers for certain rural emergency hospitals to provide skilled nursing facility care and establishing the south central regional mental health hospital. - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-02-04 - Last action: 2025-04-10, Engrossed on Monday, March 31, 2025 - Sponsor: Committee on Health and Human Services - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: senate committee on public health and welfare, house committee on health and human services - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 8 (650 yes, 2 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 13 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - New hospital service areas for residents: benefit, medium. Sedgwick, Butler, Cowley, Harvey, and Sumner counties form the South Central hospital service area. Butler, Cowley, and Sedgwick leave Osawatomie’s area, while Cloud joins it. Harvey and Sumner leave Larned’s area, while Ottawa joins it. The secretary can redraw areas without requiring connected co… - New state mental hospital for Wichita: benefit, medium. The law establishes South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital in Wichita to serve Sedgwick County and the surrounding region. It replaces Rainbow Mental Health Facility in the state psychiatric hospital definition used for mental illness care. State agencies need specific legislative approval t… - Rural hospitals get nursing bed waivers: benefit, low. The secretary must grant eligible rural emergency hospitals a physical-environment waiver to convert up to 10 swing beds into skilled nursing beds. Hospitals must apply, hold a rural emergency hospital license, and have held a hospital license immediately before that. They must have provided skille… - State staff training facility list changes: benefit, low. The law updates which state institutions qualify for instructional agreements between state agencies and schools. The revised list includes South Central hospital, Parsons State Hospital, and the Kansas Neurological Institute. For entry-level direct-care staff courses at listed institutions, the sp… - New hospital barred from community grants: cost, low. South Central hospital’s state alcohol treatment program cannot receive money from the named community alcoholism and intoxication treatment assistance program. Rainbow Mental Health Facility is no longer named in this funding restriction. The law states no excluded dollar amount, replacement fundi… - More state detox sites allow detention: mixed, medium. Detox units at any Kansas state hospital now count as covered care and treatment facilities, not just Osawatomie and Larned. These units may admit and detain someone for emergency observation and treatment after an officer submits the required written application. The officer must already have lawf… - Patient safeguards cover new mental hospital: mixed, low. South Central hospital residents are covered by state protective-services rules, with the hospital classified as psychiatric rather than medical care. Separately, the hospital joins medical-care incident-reporting rules for events or provider conduct that meet the law’s reporting definition. Confid… - Guardians gain new hospital treatment option: mixed, low. Guardians and temporary guardians can ask a court to authorize admission and treatment at South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital. The court process applies to people under guardianship or proposed for guardianship. Rainbow Mental Health Facility is removed from the covered treatment facility… - Patient charge rules cover new hospital: mixed, low. South Central hospital and its security hospital extension join the state’s basic maximum patient charge system. The secretary sets and publishes rates at least annually for patients and relatives legally responsible for their bills. Each maximum cannot exceed the institution’s projected average da… - Nursing scholarship hospital options change: mixed, low. South Central hospital joins the facilities recognized under the nursing-service scholarship program, while Rainbow Mental Health Facility leaves the list. Scholarship sponsors must still be located in a rural opportunity zone. The change does not guarantee that South Central can sponsor a scholars… - Battery protections shift for hospital workers: mixed, low. South Central hospital employees and qualifying contractors join the workers covered by Kansas’s special mental health employee battery offense. The person committing battery must be in the aging and disability services secretary’s custody, and the worker must be performing duties. The offense rema… - New secure hospital treatment extension required: mixed, low. The secretary must establish, equip, and maintain a state security hospital extension connected with South Central hospital. It provides custody, examination, treatment, and care for people sent by criminal courts or transferred from correctional institutions. It also accepts transfers from institu… - Care facilities join provider insurance framework: mixed, low. Kansas-licensed nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and residential healthcare facilities join the state’s healthcare provider insurance availability framework. Winfield State Hospital and Training Center leaves that law’s definition of state institutions for people with intellectual di… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Committee on Health and Human Services ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-04-23 | House | Yea: 122 Nay: 0 | pass | 122 | 0 | | | 2026-04-23 | House | Yea: 123 Nay: 1 | pass | 123 | 1 | | | 2026-04-23 | House | Yea: 40 Nay: 0 | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2026-04-23 | House | Yea: 40 Nay: 0 | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2025-03-27 | House | Conference Committee Report was adopted | pass | 123 | 1 | | | 2025-03-26 | Senate | Conference Committee Report was adopted | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2025-03-19 | Senate | Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2025-02-20 | House | Final Action - Passed | pass | 122 | 0 | | ## Actions (22) - 2025-04-10: Engrossed on Monday, March 31, 2025 (House) - 2025-04-10: Enrolled and presented to Governor on Friday, April 4, 2025 (House) - 2025-04-08: Approved by Governor on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 (House) - 2025-03-27: Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 123, Nay 1, Absent 1 (House) - 2025-03-26: Conference committee report now available (Senate) - 2025-03-26: Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 40, Nay 0 (Senate) - 2025-03-20: Nonconcurred with amendments; Conference Committee requested; appointed Rep. Will Carpenter, Rep. Ron Bryce and Rep. Susan Ruiz (House) - 2025-03-20: Motion to accede adopted; Sen. Beverly Gossage, Sen. William Clifford and Sen. Cindy Holscher appointed as conferees (Senate) - 2025-03-19: Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted (Senate) - 2025-03-19: Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended (Senate) - 2025-03-19: Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 40, Nay 0 (Senate) - 2025-03-17: Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare (Senate) - 2025-03-11: Hearing: Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 8:30 AM — Room 142-S (Senate) - 2025-02-26: Referred to Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare (Senate) - 2025-02-25: Received and Introduced (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Final Action - Passed; Yea 122, Nay 0, Absent 3 (House) - 2025-02-19: Committee of the Whole - Be passed (House) - 2025-02-14: Committee Report recommending bill be passed by House Committee on Health and Human Services (House) - 2025-02-13: Hearing: Thursday, February 13, 2025, 1:30 PM — Room 112-N (House) - 2025-02-12: Hearing: Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 1:30 PM — Room 112-N — CANCELED (House) - 2025-02-04: Introduced (House) - 2025-02-04: Referred to House Committee on Health and Human Services (House) ## Bill text - As Amended by Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2249/hb2249_01_0000.pdf) - As Introduced: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2249/hb2249_00_0000.pdf) - Enrolled: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2249/hb2249_enrolled.pdf) ## Related bills - SB 430: Adding mitragynine to schedule I of the uniform controlled substances act and reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes in the Kansas criminal code. (signed) - SB 82: Providing tax credits for expenditures for lockable gun and ammunition storage and the retail sale of higher ethanol blends of fuel, discontinuing the tax cred… (signed) - SB 300: Providing for the apportionment of business income by manufacturers of alcoholic liquor depending on whether the taxpayer is a qualifying Kansas investor or a… (signed) - HB 2029: Reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes. (signed) - HB 2018: Senate Substitute for HB 2018 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs - Creating the crime of interference with the conduct of a religious assembly, providin… (became law) - HB 2036: Providing a Kansas income tax subtraction modification for certain amounts received as compensation for members of the armed forces. (failed) ## Sources - [As Amended by Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2249/hb2249_01_0000.pdf) - [As Introduced (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2249/hb2249_00_0000.pdf) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2249/hb2249_enrolled.pdf) ## Related - [SB 430: Adding mitragynine to schedule I of the uniform controlled substances act and r…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB430-2025-2026) - [SB 82: Providing tax credits for expenditures for lockable gun and ammunition storage…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB82-2025-2026) - [SB 300: Providing for the apportionment of business income by manufacturers of alcoholi…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB300-2025-2026) - [HB 2029: Reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2029-2025-2026) - [HB 2018: Senate Substitute for HB 2018 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs - Creat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2018-2025-2026) - [HB 2036: Providing a Kansas income tax subtraction modification for certain amounts rece…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2036-2025-2026) - [Kansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/kansas/bills) - [Kansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/kansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2249-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-17).