Kansas puts new frail-elderly home-care applicants on Medicaid waiver waitlist
A Kansas Medicaid waiver waitlist took effect July 6 for new applicants seeking in-home services for frail older adults. Applicants already approved for program eligibility were allowed to continue through enrollment.
Kansas began placing new applicants for its Frail Elderly Home and Community-Based Services waiver on a statewide waitlist July 6, limiting immediate access to Medicaid-funded services that help eligible older adults remain at home.
The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services said people assessed for the waiver on or after July 6 are subject to the waitlist. That cutoff applies even when an applicant later meets the program’s functional and financial eligibility requirements, because enrollment is also limited by available waiver capacity.
People already in the eligibility pipeline were treated differently. KDADS said 577 applicants who had received program-eligibility approval before the change may continue through the enrollment process and were not placed on the new waitlist.
Who is affected
The Frail Elderly waiver is for Kansans who are at least 65 years old, meet the Medicaid nursing-facility threshold score and are financially eligible for Medicaid. Meeting those requirements does not guarantee immediate enrollment under the new process.
Applicants assessed on or after July 6 may have to wait for an available opening. Kansas has not publicly posted a reliable current total for people newly placed on the waitlist or an official estimate of how long they may wait.
What the waiver covers
The waiver is intended to provide an alternative to nursing-home care by supporting eligible older adults in their homes and communities. Listed services include personal care, comprehensive support, adult day care, home telehealth, medication reminders, personal emergency response and wellness monitoring.
KDADS also lists specialized medical equipment and supplies, home and environmental modifications, nursing evaluation visits, oral health services and other supports. The services and hours available to an individual depend on assessed needs and the person’s service plan.
Why Kansas created the waitlist
KDADS said demand for the waiver has exceeded available funding and waiver slots. The agency reports that normal participant turnover creates about 250 to 275 openings each month.
KDADS said the waitlist was also tied to the funding provided in the 2026 budget. The agency’s July 6 announcement said the budget provided $39.5 million in all funds, including $15 million from the State General Fund, to cover current Frail Elderly waiver-service overages and formally establish a waitlist.
The Kansas Legislative Research Department’s conference-committee brief rounded that same budget item to $40 million in all funds, including $15 million in State General Fund dollars. The enacted budget record, as described by KDADS, uses the more precise $39.5 million figure.
KDADS also said a prior governor’s budget request had sought $16.1 million in additional all-funds funding, including $6.3 million in State General Fund dollars, to avoid a waitlist. That is the agency’s explanation of the funding history, not a finding that all eligible applicants have been denied services.
Crisis exceptions are available for urgent cases
KDADS announced a crisis-exception process for eligible applicants with urgent circumstances. Examples identified by the agency include substantiated abuse, terminal illness, domestic violence or an imminent risk of nursing-facility or hospital placement.
The agency said the crisis process became active July 6 and may allow an eligible person to move ahead of the waitlist. A crisis request does not guarantee enrollment, funding or service authorization. KDADS reviews the request against the applicant’s eligibility, the crisis criteria, available resources and waiver capacity.
The publicly posted crisis-exception policy is marked draft and dated June 1, 2026, with a public-comment period listed through July 1. Applicants and families should confirm the current operational procedure, required documentation and any review timeline with KDADS or the assessing entity before relying on details in that draft document.
What applicants should do
People seeking the Frail Elderly waiver should start with the Aging and Disability Resource Center, or ADRC. KDADS says the ADRC provides options counseling and refers applicants for a functional-eligibility assessment.
The statewide ADRC number is 1-855-200-2372. Applicants should ask whether their assessment date places them before or after the July 6 cutoff, whether they have been found functionally eligible, whether they have been placed on the waitlist and whether their circumstances may support a crisis-exception request.
Families should also ask the assessing entity or KDADS what documents are needed and how they will be notified when an opening becomes available. The state has not announced that the waitlist is permanent, and no official wait-time estimate is currently available.
Sources
- KDADS Frail Elderly waiver program page
- HB 2513 Conference Committee Report Brief
- Kansas Starts Waitlist for Frail Elderly Home Care Program
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