2022 Kansas Labor & Employment Year End Review

• Jurisdiction: Kansas,United States
• Law Firm: Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Retirement, Superannuation & Pensions, Employee Benefits & Compensation
• Author: Mr Alan Rupe
• Published date: 25 January 2023

Wichita, Kan. (January 23, 2023) - The 2022 legislative session for the State of Kansas began in January 2022. The legislators were back in the Capitol for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic and ready to work. Notably, several bills that focused on the authority of state and local governmental authorities when responding to contagious or infectious diseases such as COVID-19 died on general orders or were sustained through Governor Laura Kelly's veto. For example, Senate Substitute for House Bill No. 2062 would have prohibited long-term care facilities and healthcare facilities managed by state or local government from restricting residents' or patients' right to receive or refuse visitors in their private rooms.

However, other bills survived and passed that impacted the sphere of labor and employment, including retirement and health benefits for certain industries and the rights of practice for certain healthcare professionals. The following list below provides a summation of pertinent labor and employment related bills of 2022 that did pass into law.

Healthcare and Retirement Related

HB No. 2110

This bill was signed by Governor Laura Kelly on April 7, 2022 and requires the State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) for the plan year 2023 to provide coverage for the diagnosis and prescribed treatment for pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infectious (PANDAS) for the purpose of studying the utilization and cost of such coverage.

HB No. 2481

This bill was signed by Governor Laura Kelly on April 7, 2022. It relates to the Kansas police and firemen's retirement system. The bill authorizes the purchase of participating service credit for certain in-state non-federal governmental employment and governs the method of payments. Effective July 1, 2022, any member of the Kansas police and firemen's retirement system who was previously employed through in-state nonfederal governmental employment and whose service otherwise meets the requirements of an employee as prescribed in K.S.A. 74-4952(4) and amendments thereto, and meets the requirements of K.S.A. 74-4902(10) and amendments thereto, may elect to purchase service for such nonfederal governmental employment.

Senate Substitute for HB No. 2279

This bill was signed by Governor Laura Kelly on April 15, 2022, amending the Kansas Nurse Practice Act (KNPA), which governs the licensure of advance practice registered...