Requiring the department of health and environment (KDHE) to seek federal approval for continuous medicaid eligibility for certain individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities receiving services through a home and community based services waiver, directing state agencies to report to certain legislative committees on Kansans losing public assistance program eligibility, requiring the Kansas department for children and families and KDHE to enter into data-matching agreements with state agencies to verify eligibility for food and medical assistance and KDHE to submit certain data to the centers for medicare and medicaid services, prohibiting certain public assistance waivers or exemptions without legislative approval and self-attestation for purposes of determining eligibility for public assistance, requiring quarterly eligibility redeterminations for medical assistance and providing exceptions for certain individuals, limiting retroactive enrollment in medical assistance, immediately terminating eligibility for medical assistance upon confirmation of death of the enrollee, increasing the age limit for able-bodied adults without certain dependents and prohibiting certain exemptions from work requirements under the food assistance program.

2025-2026 Regular Session

SB 363 tightens Kansas public assistance eligibility through stricter verification, quarterly reviews, expanded work requirements, and continuous Medicaid for disabled individuals in community-based waivers.

Died on House Calendar

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Legislative bill overview

SB 363 implements multiple administrative and eligibility changes to Kansas's public assistance programs, including Medicaid and food assistance. The bill requires continuous Medicaid coverage for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities in home and community-based waivers, mandates quarterly eligibility redeterminations, restricts self-attestation in eligibility determinations, and tightens work requirements for able-bodied adults in food assistance programs.

Why is this important

These changes directly affect hundreds of thousands of Kansans receiving Medicaid, food assistance, and other public benefits. The bill introduces stricter verification procedures and more frequent eligibility reviews, which could reduce enrollment errors but may also create administrative burdens and cause eligible individuals to lose coverage during transitions. The work requirement changes particularly impact unemployed adults without dependents.

Potential points of contention

Continuous eligibility carve-out: Creating Medicaid continuity only for individuals with disabilities receiving HCBS waivers may be viewed as either necessary protection or creating inequitable treatment compared to other vulnerable populations

Quarterly redeterminations: More frequent eligibility reviews increase administrative costs and paperwork burden; supporters cite program integrity, critics worry eligible people will disengage or miss deadlines

Self-attestation restrictions: Tighter verification requirements improve accuracy but may delay assistance to those with legitimate barriers to documentation (homelessness, language barriers, lost records)

Work requirements expansion: Raising age limits and restricting exemptions serves workforce policy goals but may penalize individuals with barriers to employment (disabilities, childcare needs, health conditions)

Data-sharing agreements: Enhanced inter-agency data matching improves fraud detection but raises privacy concerns about government information sharing