STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1542_______

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.C.R. No. 219
                                     




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was
referred H.C.R. No. 219 entitled: 

     "HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED STATES
     CONGRESS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND THE
     SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TO SUPPORT THE HAWAII
     CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION'S EFFORT TO AMEND THE SOCIAL
     SECURITY ACT TO INCREASE HAWAII'S FEDERAL MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
     PERCENTAGE(FMAP),"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to increase
federal funding for Hawaii's Medicaid Program by encouraging
support for federal legislation to increase Hawaii's Federal
Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP).

     The federal government's participation in the Medicaid
Program is based on the FMAP which is calculated according to a
formula based on per capita income in the individual state.  From
Hawaii's perspective, per capita income is a poor measure of our
ability to bear the cost of Medicaid services because of our high
cost of living.

     Alaska also shared similar concerns due to its own high cost
of living.  Fortunately, Alaska received an increase in its FMAP
through an amendment to the Social Security Act which raised its
FMAP from 50 percent to 59.8 percent.


 
 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1542_______
                                 Page 2

 
     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Department of Human Services, the State Planning Council on
Developmental Disabilities, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii,
and an individual.  Following decision-making, your Committee
also received supporting testimony from the Department of
Accounting and General Services.

     Your Committee intends to contact the National Conference of
State Legislatures and the National Governors' Association to
obtain more information on this issue regarding other states and
to request for support of the federal legislation.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this
report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of
H.C.R. No. 219 and recommends that it be referred to the
Committee on Finance.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Human Services
                                   and Housing,



                                   ______________________________
                                   DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair