Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas Senate Bill SB127

Introduced
1/30/25  

Caption

Expanding the hearsay exception for statements made to a physician to all healthcare providers.

Impact

The proposed changes reflect significant legal reform in Kansas. By broadening the scope of admissible statements about a person's physical or mental condition made to healthcare providers, the bill allows more comprehensive accounts of a patient's status to be considered in court cases. Proponents argue that this change will facilitate better legal determinations by providing judges and juries with relevant patient statements that denote their health conditions, thereby improving the justice that can be served in medical negligence and related cases. The impact of this reform could potentially lead to more favorable legal results for those seeking justice for medical issues.

Summary

Senate Bill 127 seeks to amend Kansas' rules of evidence, specifically by expanding the exception to the hearsay rule for statements made to healthcare providers. Currently, the hearsay rule restricts the admissibility of statements made outside of a courtroom, unless they fit certain exceptions. This bill would allow statements made to any healthcare provider—not just physicians—to be admissible as evidence under specified conditions. The intention is to enhance the evidence available in legal proceedings involving healthcare contexts, potentially improving outcomes for plaintiffs in civil actions related to health conditions.

Contention

Despite its aims, SB127 also presents potential areas of contention. Critics may argue that expanding hearsay exceptions could compromise the integrity of evidence in court, as the reliability of statements made outside of a formal witness setting can be questionable. Concerns regarding the possibility of hearsay being misused to support weak cases or the introduction of unverified information into legal proceedings are significant. As the legislative process unfolds, these debates will likely shape the bill's final form and its implementation in the legal system.

Companion Bills

No companion bills found.

Previously Filed As

KS HB2002

Expanding medical assistance eligibility and enacting the cutting healthcare costs for all Kansans act.

KS HB2001

Authorizing the secretary of commerce to enter into agreements with major professional sports franchises to establish STAR bond projects for a major professional sports complex, providing for additional revenue sources, expanding the powers and discretion of the secretary and making other changes to the STAR bonds financing act to facilitate such projects, limiting the secretary’s authority to approve such projects to one year unless extended by the legislative coordinating council, authorizing the Kansas development finance authority to issue STAR bonds for such projects, transferring funds under certain circumstances from the state gaming revenues fund to the attracting professional sports to Kansas fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and, if approved by the legislative coordinating council, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026.

KS SB7

Authorizing federally licensed firearm dealers, in addition to county sheriffs, to receive applications for concealed carry licenses and forward such applications to the attorney general, prohibiting sheriffs from assessing any fee related to application services and allowing dealers to assess a fee related to application services not to exceed $20.

KS SB1

Modifying income tax rates for individuals, exempting all social security benefits from Kansas income tax, increasing the Kansas standard deduction and the Kansas personal exemption, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, decreasing the privilege tax normal tax, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value for property tax valuation purposes, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund and abolishing the local ad valorem tax reduction fund and the county and city revenue sharing fund.

KS HB2003

Establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, modifying the definition of household income and increasing the appraised value threshold for eligibility of seniors and disabled veterans related to increased property tax claims and citing the section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, providing property tax exemptions for certain personal property including watercraft, marine equipment, off-road vehicles, motorized bicycles and certain trailers, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value, providing for certain exclusions from the prohibition of paying taxes under protest after a valuation notice appeal and providing four prior years' values on the annual valuation notice.

KS SB2

Eliminating the income limit to qualify for the subtraction modification exempting social security benefits, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, citing the increased property tax homestead refund claim section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, decreasing the normal privilege tax rate, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, decreasing the rate of ad valorem tax imposed by a school district; providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund, reducing the state rate of tax on sales of food and food ingredients and modifying the percent credited to the state highway fund from revenue collected.

KS SB6

Providing a sales tax exemption for sales of electricity to residential premises by municipally owned or operated utilities.

KS SB8

Exempting the sale of firearms, firearms accessories, ammunition, firearm safes and firearm safety devices from the retatilers' sales tax.

KS HB2004

Authorizing counties to propose an earnings tax for ballot question.

KS SCR1604

Proposing to amend section 1 of article 11 of the constitution of the state of Kansas to limit property tax valuation increases for real property and personal property mobile homes.

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