House Bill No. 2142 failed to gain
much traction and stalled in the
House K-12 Budget committee.
But because the bill could be
reconsidered this session, the
possibility exists for advancement.
Currently, Kansas school
districts can purchase their own
customized health insurance
plans from independent agents.
But based on legislation, the
proposal would require public
school district employees to
participate in a statewide high-
deductible health plan.
The idea was introduced to
legislators last year in Gov.
Sam Brownback’s state budget
proposal. At the time, Brownback
estimated the consolidated
plan would save $40 million in
fiscal year 2018 and $80 million
in 2019. But in a Legislative
Post Audit Performance report
released in February 2017, a 2010
audit of K-12 health insurance
concluded that only a few school
districts would benefit from
joining a single statewide pool.
State efficiency studies have also
indicated creating a single state
health insurance plan could lower
costs for school districts, but critics
say that district health coverage
varies widely across the state. A
single plan would have varied
effects on the state’s 286 districts.
“Creating a mandatory health
insurance program for schools could
serve as a precedence for creating a
mandatory state-run pool for school
property and casualty insurance,
which, in fact, has been proposed,”
Will explains. “That would create a
monopoly for both school health
insurance and property and casualty
insurance and we’re opposed to
that. There are differences among
KAIA Attorney Will Larson presents at a house committee hearing in justification of a bill that the
association introduced, HB2487.
school districts. A school district like
the Wichita district and a small rural
district have different needs. School
districts should have the right to
choose insurance that meets their
individual needs.”
our members and the interests of
Kansas communities. HB2487 is
an example of that. In addition,
we have to be up on what has been
introduced by others, and how that
affects our agents.”
KAIA’s House Bill No. 2487 Understanding the
Another bill KAIA is closely
Legislative Process
working on was introduced by
the association on Jan. 17. The
proposal would limit workers
compensation experience
modification increases resulting
from motor vehicle accidents in
which neither an employee nor
employer was at fault. Based on
the proposal, the rating would
be reduced according to the
following conditions:
• The employee was entitled to
benefits under the workers’
compensation act.
• The accident was not caused by
the employee or the employer.
• The use of a motor vehicle
was not an integral part of the
employer’s business.
“The idea is that the employer will
not be penalized,” Will says. “Every
year, something comes up, and
we need to move quickly to serve
Bills introduced in the Legislature
go through a prescribed process
involving the House and Senate.
But in the beginning, it all
starts with an idea. Once a bill
is drafted by legislators, it is
introduced in either the House
or Senate, depending on where it
originated. From there, the bill is
referred to a specific committee,
which conducts hearings and
deliberations on the proposal.
The committee may also decide
to amend the proposal before it
returns to its house of origin. At
this point, the committee of the
whole conducts similar hearings
and deliberations on the proposal.
Again, the bill could be amended
before it goes before the entire
house of origin for a final vote.
From there, the bill is messaged to
the second house, where it follows
| January - Febr