Important Updates:
The KDADS website has a new look but the same information you rely on. This is the NEW official KDADS website.
Department for Aging and Disability Services
Home MenuAging Services
David Anderson, Commissioner
David Anderson was appointed as the agency’s Aging Services Commissioner effective February 19, 2024. Anderson is a licensed behavioral health provider who spent the last 36 years at High Plains Mental Health Center in Hays, starting as a service provider and later holding various leadership positions. He has also been an adjunct faculty member at Fort Hays State University's psychology department for many years.
Anderson has served on numerous statewide committees and boards over the years. He was appointed by Governor Laura Kelly in 2019 to serve on the Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board, where he currently serves as vice chair.
“David Anderson comes to KDADS with more than three decades of experience in behavioral health services, building community partnerships, and leading effective teams, KDADS Secretary Laura Howard said. “We look to him to work with various community partners to create shared goals and outcomes.”
Anderson grew up in Winfield, Kansas, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southwestern College. He moved to western Kansas in 1985 to attend Fort Hays State University, where he earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology.
What We Do
Aging Services administers various community-based programs for the aging population through contracts and grants of state and federal funds. The programs administered include the Older Americans Act, congregate and home-delivered meals, caregiver programs, in-home services, Senior Care Act services, and quality assurance programs for the Older Americans Act and Senior Care Act. In addition, it is responsible for the Aging and Disability Resource Center, or ADRC, the single entry point for older adults and persons with disabilities to connect with local experts who can help them choose long-term service and support options.
The Aging Commission also administers the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). PACE provides comprehensive medical and social services to individuals aged 55+ who are still living in the community. Most of the participants who are in PACE are dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
Aging Services oversees and implements grants that assist individuals who are aging or have a disability under Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas (SHICK), Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP), and Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA). The SHICK program assists individuals with questions related to Medicare. The SMP program educates the community about reporting Medicare/Medicaid and healthcare fraud and abuse and how to identify and report scams. The MIPPA program allocates funding for increased outreach to Medicare beneficiaries, the bulk of which is targeted at coordinating, educating, and enrolling low-income Medicare beneficiaries and the free Medicare Preventive Services.
Nursing Facility Program Team
The Nursing Facility (NF) Program Team provides oversight of rate setting, quality incentives, change of ownership, Medicaid enrollment, Quality Care Assessments, and CMS enforcement actions for Kansas Nursing Facilities, Nursing Facilities for Mental Health, Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF), Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities, and the PACE program. The NF Program Team also oversees the Ventilator Program-setting rates for ventilator-dependent individuals in an NF and the ICF Gatekeeping process for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. The NF Program Team manages the Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas (PEAK) program that promotes and incentivizes NFs to implement person-centered care. Our program information can be found here: