I/DD Waivers in Kansas

All states: Medicaid disability services map

Kansas I/DD services at a glance

Last verified against state sources: 2026-10-23.

Who runs I/DD services in Kansas?

Two state agencies share the work. The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) operates the I/DD waivers. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is the state Medicaid agency and runs KanCare, the program that pays for Medicaid services through health plans. Local Community Developmental Disability Organizations (CDDOs) are the front door for families.

• KDADS: operates the HCBS I/DD Waiver and the new Community Support Waiver, licenses day, residential and targeted case management providers, and keeps the statewide waiting list.
• KDHE and KanCare: KDHE contracts with three managed care organizations (MCOs), which are health plans, to pay for waiver services.
• CDDOs (front door): Kansas has 27 CDDOs, each under contract with KDADS as the single point of entry for I/DD services in its area. The CDDO decides whether a person is eligible, arranges the functional assessment and handles waiting list exceptions. Providers also need an affiliate agreement with each CDDO they serve.
• Case management: once a person is found eligible, they choose a targeted case management (TCM) agency that is licensed by KDADS and affiliated with the CDDO. TCM is a Medicaid service separate from the waiver, and people on the waiting list can receive it too. The health plan's care coordinator also takes part in service planning.

What Medicaid waivers and programs serve people with I/DD in Kansas?

Kansas has two 1915(c) waivers for people with I/DD: the HCBS Intellectual/Developmental Disability (I/DD) Waiver and the Community Support Waiver (CSW), which took effect October 1, 2026. A 1915(c) waiver is a federal Medicaid option that lets a state pay for home and community services instead of institutional care. Both waivers run alongside KanCare's 1915(b) managed care waiver, so their services are paid through the KanCare health plans.

• HCBS I/DD Waiver (1915(c), control number KS.0224.R07.00): serves people age 5 and older with an intellectual disability that began before age 18, a developmental disability that began before age 22, or autism. They must meet the level of care for an Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID), qualify for Medicaid and be found eligible by a CDDO. The current federal approval runs from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2029. Services include residential supports for adults, children's residential supports, day supports (including prevocational services), supported employment, personal care, overnight respite, enhanced care, Children's Integrated Community Supports (CHICS), financial management services, medical alert rental, specialized medical care, wellness monitoring, home and environmental modifications, medical equipment and vehicle modifications. KDADS reported 9,721 people eligible for I/DD services in August 2025.
• Community Support Waiver (1915(c), control number KS.2546.R00.00): the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved it on July 1, 2026, effective October 1, 2026, according to the Governor's announcement. It serves people age 5 and older with I/DD or autism who meet ICF/IID level of care but do not need 24-hour paid support. Each person has a $20,000 annual limit, and the state projects 500 participants in the first waiver year (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027). Services include personal care, respite, individual employment support, benefits and career planning, life skills, behavior, occupational, physical and speech therapies, family and caregiver support and training, individual-directed goods and services, non-medical transportation, remote support and home telehealth, assistive technology, medical equipment, home and vehicle modifications, personal emergency response and medication reminders. It has no day or residential services.

A related program, the HCBS Autism Waiver (1915(c), control number KS.0476.R03.00), serves children with autism from birth to age 5 who meet a hospital level of care. It offers respite, family adjustment counseling, parent support and training, and financial management services. Losing Autism Waiver services is one of the priority routes onto the I/DD Waiver. Kansas also funds private ICFs/IID and two state I/DD hospitals as the institutional options that the waivers are an alternative to.

Does Kansas pay for I/DD services through managed care?

Yes. Kansas pays for I/DD waiver services through KanCare, its Medicaid managed care program, under a 1915(b) waiver that runs alongside the 1915(c) waivers. Three health plans hold KanCare contracts from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2027: Healthy Blue, Sunflower Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, according to KMAP bulletin 24118.

• Who pays claims: the member's KanCare health plan pays waiver providers. The state's HCBS fee schedule sets floor rates that the plans must pay.
• Who coordinates services: when a waiver slot opens, the person meets with their health plan to complete an Integrated Service Plan. The targeted case manager plans services with the person, and the plan's care coordinator also takes part. Since July 1, 2025, the plans must use a state-approved interRAI-based tool for all HCBS waiver service plans, according to KMAP bulletin 24236.
• What we did not find: whether I/DD targeted case management is billed through the health plans or paid by the state directly. Ask KDADS or the member's health plan.

Is there a waiting list for I/DD services in Kansas?

Yes. KDADS keeps a statewide waiting list for the I/DD Waiver and reported 4,813 people waiting as of August 2025, in October 2025 testimony to a legislative committee. People in crisis and some priority groups can be served without waiting, through their CDDO.

• Who can be on the list: a Kansas resident who is I/DD eligible, scores Tier 1 to 5 on the latest functional assessment and does not receive another waiver (except the Serious Emotional Disturbance, or SED, waiver). A person keeps their place on the list if they move within Kansas, according to the Johnson County CDDO.
• Crisis exceptions: confirmed or pending abuse, neglect or exploitation, or a significant, imminent risk of serious harm.
• Priority routes: children in the custody of the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), people leaving a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF), people losing Technology Assisted, Autism or brain injury waiver services, and military families, as listed by the Sedgwick County CDDO.
• New slots: the 2025 Legislature funded $14.0 million ($5.4 million from the State General Fund) to move 200 people from the waiting list onto the waiver in state fiscal year 2026, according to the Kansas Legislative Research Department (KLRD).
• How the list is ordered: we did not find a source that says whether people are served by date of request or by another rule. Ask your CDDO.

The Community Support Waiver, which took effect October 1, 2026, is meant to ease pressure on the waiting list. We did not find whether CSW enrollment has opened or how its first 500 participants will be chosen.

How do people apply for I/DD services in Kansas, and how are budgets set?

A person starts by contacting the CDDO for their county. The CDDO decides whether the person has an intellectual or developmental disability and arranges a functional assessment. The person must also meet the institutional level of care and qualify for Medicaid. Most eligible people then go on the statewide waiting list.

• Eligibility: age 5 or older, an intellectual disability that began before age 18 or a developmental disability that began before age 22, a functional assessment score at the ICF/IID threshold, and Medicaid financial eligibility.
• Assessment tool: the Medicaid Functional Eligibility Instrument (MFEI), an interRAI-based tool, replaced the older BASIS assessment for I/DD eligibility and tiers. It was scheduled to start July 1, 2025, according to the Sedgwick County CDDO, and KDADS reported it in use in October 2025.
• Support tiers: residential and day services are paid at five Regular tiers and five Super tiers based on the person's assessed need.
• Service plans: when a slot opens, the person chooses a targeted case manager and providers, then meets with their KanCare health plan to complete an Integrated Service Plan.
• Self-direction: I/DD Waiver participants can self-direct personal care, enhanced care and overnight respite with employer authority, meaning the person hires and manages their own workers. CSW participants have employer and budget authority, meaning they also decide how part of their budget is spent, and GT Independence is the single state-contracted financial management services (FMS) provider that handles payroll.
• Budget limits: the CSW has a $20,000 annual limit per person. We did not find a published individual budget method for the I/DD Waiver beyond its tiered rates.

What day and residential services can I/DD providers offer in Kansas?

On the I/DD Waiver, providers can offer day supports, supported employment, residential supports for adults and children, and in-home supports for people who live with family. Day and residential providers need a KDADS license under Kansas rules in K.A.R. Article 30-63. The Community Support Waiver has no day or residential services, but it does pay for individual employment support.

Day and employment services

• Day Supports, including prevocational services (I/DD Waiver): regular activities for adults that build daily living skills, productivity and community participation. Prevocational services prepare a person for paid or unpaid work but are not focused on specific job tasks. Providers need a KDADS Day Services license, a CDDO affiliate agreement, KanCare health plan contracts, KMAP enrollment and an annual certificate of compliance with the HCBS Settings Rule (the federal rule on community settings). Billed in 15-minute units (T2021) at Regular tiers 1 to 5 and Super tiers 1 to 5. We did not find a published staff ratio.
• Supported Employment (I/DD Waiver): competitive, integrated paid work with ongoing supports. KDADS runs a Kansas Employment First training and technical assistance effort for I/DD providers. We did not find a published billing unit or staff ratio.
• Individual Employment Support (CSW): employment support, with benefits and career planning, for CSW participants. We did not find a billing unit or provider requirements.

Residential and in-home services

• Residential Supports for adults (I/DD Waiver): for adults 18 and older who do not live with family, covering daily living skills such as grooming, chores, meals and social skills. Providers need a KDADS Residential Services license. Homes with four or more residents also need State Fire Marshal compliance, and new sites need an environmental inspection. Paid per day (T2016) in Regular and Super tiers.
• Children's Residential Supports (I/DD Waiver): for children ages 5 to 21 living in a family foster home licensed by KDHE.
• In-home supports for people living with family (I/DD Waiver): personal care (one-to-one help with daily living), enhanced care (overnight, up to 6 hours in 24, with a physician statement) and overnight respite for unpaid family caregivers. These can be self-directed or provided by an agency (Supportive Home Care). We did not find the license an agency needs for these services.
• ICF/IID: private ICFs/IID and two state I/DD hospitals are the institutional option.

How are I/DD provider rates set and how do agencies enroll in Kansas?

The state publishes an HCBS fee schedule through the Kansas Medical Assistance Program (KMAP), and those rates are also the floor that the KanCare health plans must pay. Residential and day services are paid in five Regular and five Super tiers based on assessed need, and other I/DD services have flat unit rates. The 2026 Legislature funded a 6.0 percent I/DD rate increase for state fiscal year 2027, which began July 1, 2026.

• Latest rate bulletin we found: KMAP bulletin 25122 raised HCBS and managed care floor rates for dates of service from July 1, 2025. For example, adult residential supports at Regular Tier 1 paid $236.81 a day.
• FY 2027 increase: House Bill 2513 added $41.7 million ($16.0 million from the State General Fund) for a 6.0 percent increase for I/DD waiver providers, according to the KLRD 2026 legislative highlights. We did not find the KMAP bulletin that puts the new rates in place.
• New rate model: KDADS is building a new interRAI-based rate model tied to its plan to split up Day Supports (see the next section).
• Becoming a provider: an agency needs a KDADS license for Day Services, Residential Services or Targeted Case Management under K.A.R. Article 30-63, starting with a six-month temporary license. It also needs an affiliate agreement with each CDDO it serves (required before health plan credentialing), contracts with the KanCare health plans and a KMAP Medicaid provider number. The Johnson County CDDO describes the steps, and KanCare has a become a provider page.
• EVV for I/DD services: in-home I/DD services must be recorded with electronic visit verification (EVV) in Fiserv AuthentiCare, the state system, or an approved third-party system. The codes are H0045, S5125 (including S5125 U1, added January 8, 2025), S5190, T1000 (including T1000 TD), T1019, T2025 and T2040 U2, which cover services such as personal care, overnight respite, enhanced care and medication reminders. Since March 1, 2025, original claims for these codes that do not come through AuthentiCare are rejected, according to KMAP bulletin 23349. Residential and day supports are not on the EVV code list.

What is changing next for I/DD services in Kansas?

KDADS plans to split Day Supports into new habilitation, community and employment services, with a new rate model and a waiver amendment. No date has been published. KDADS described the plan in its October 2025 testimony as part of a Corrective Action Plan on the federal HCBS Settings Rule and conflict-free case management, and the details are not final.

• Day service changes: we did not find a draft waiver amendment, proposed service definitions, proposed rates or a timeline. Day providers can ask KDADS or their CDDO for updates.
• No dual service provision: KDADS is moving to bar one provider from delivering both targeted case management and waiver services to the same person, with an exception when the provider is the only willing and qualified one. We did not find a compliance date.
• I/DD Waiver approval: medicaid.gov lists an approval dated August 31, 2026 on the current I/DD Waiver. We did not find what that approval changed. Ask KDADS.

Several recent changes are already in place: the Community Support Waiver took effect October 1, 2026, the MFEI replaced BASIS for I/DD eligibility assessments in 2025, and the 6.0 percent rate increase was funded for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2026.

Kansas I/DD sources

• Medicaid.gov: Kansas HCBS I/DD Waiver (KS.0224)
• Medicaid.gov: Kansas waiver fact sheet
• Office of the Governor: Community Support Waiver approval (July 2026)
• KDADS testimony to the Bethell Joint Committee on HCBS and KanCare Oversight (October 13, 2025)
• Kansas Legislative Research Department: Legislative Highlights 2026
• KMAP bulletin 25122: HCBS and managed care floor rates from July 1, 2025
• KMAP bulletin 23349: EVV codes and AuthentiCare claims
• Johnson County CDDO: Become a licensed HCBS provider
• Sedgwick County CDDO: Waiting list exceptions
• Wyandotte County CDDO booklet (services and eligibility)

Related reading

• Disability Services and Independent Living Guide
• Essential Acronyms in Disability Services: A Quick Reference Guide
• Disability Services DayHab has a dilemma - how to solve it
• I/DD services in every state (map)
• Kansas EVV requirements

Other states that use managed care for I/DD services

Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee. See every state on the I/DD services map.

Page history

• October 23, 2026: Page rewritten and checked against state sources.

This page is a reference, not legal advice. State rules change, so confirm details with the state before you act on them.

Ankota provides software for I/DD provider agencies, including EVV, service documentation, goal tracking and billing. If you would like to talk through your program, contact Ankota or read more about Ankota's I/DD software.