Kansas cracks down on nursing home operators with shaky finances

The state of Kansas had to take over 22 financially struggling nursing homes last year — the most anyone connected to the industry could remember.

Officials with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services said they had no choice. Nursing home managers — most of them from out of state — had fallen behind on bills for basics like food and utilities, putting residents’ health and safety at risk.

Now the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly have come together on a plan to keep it from happening again.

Lawmakers this month passed a bill requested by the Kelly administration that will require much more financial information from people who apply for licenses to operate nursing homes.

Read more: https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article229387249.html