REPORT TITLE:
Developmental Disabilities


DESCRIPTION:
Makes an appropriation to match federal funds for medicaid for
home- and community-based care for persons with developmental
disabilities. (HB2271 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2271
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that individuals with
 
 2 developmental disabilities (individuals) require life-long
 
 3 support and services.  The best treatment for these individuals
 
 4 is to be independent, productive, integrated, and included in the
 
 5 community.  Act 189, Session Laws of Hawaii (SLH) 1995, was
 
 6 intended to transition individuals residing at Waimano Training
 
 7 School and Hospital into the community by mandating that all
 
 8 programs and services for these individuals be provided for in
 
 9 the community.  Act 189, SLH 1995, also required the department
 
10 of health to maximize state funds for community services, using
 
11 these funds as a match for title XIX federal programs, other
 
12 governmental programs, and privately financed programs.
 
13      The legislature further finds that a medicaid waiver program
 
14 under section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act was designed to
 
15 allow states to provide long-term care, support, and services in
 
16 the community by using at least fifty per cent of federal dollars
 
17 for individuals who would otherwise be institutionalized.  The
 
18 medicaid and community-based services waiver program provides an
 
19 array of services such as adult day health, personal assistance,
 

 
Page 2                                                     2271
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 environmental accessibility adaptations, habilitation, supported
 
 2 employment, respite care, skilled nursing, and specialized
 
 3 services designed to support the individual's right to live in
 
 4 the community.
 
 5      The departments of health and human services implemented a
 
 6 home- and community-based services waiver program in 1983.  There
 
 7 are approximately eight hundred individuals who may be eligible
 
 8 for the home- and community-based services waiver program.  The
 
 9 program presently serves approximately nine hundred seventy
 
10 individuals, and there are over seven hundred individuals who are
 
11 on a wait list and need services and support to enable them to
 
12 live in the community.  The number of individuals on the wait
 
13 list continues to grow.
 
14      The legislature further finds that the home- and community-
 
15 based waiver program impacts on the economic well-being of the
 
16 State due to the labor intensive nature of the program.
 
17 Increased funding for the program will significantly increase the
 
18 number of individuals to be employed in the program, which will
 
19 be helped by using matching federal dollars.
 
20      The legislature is concerned that recent statistics indicate
 
21 that Hawaii ranks forty-seventh in its level of funding for
 
22 community services, and fiftieth in its total funding effort for
 
23 mental retardation and developmental disabilities services.
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 Furthermore, the home- and community-based services waiver
 
 2 program is underfunded, which causes the State to use state
 
 3 dollars inefficiently and to miss the opportunity to maximize
 
 4 federal dollars.
 
 5      The purpose of this Act is to appropriate state funds as
 
 6 matching federal funds to serve individuals with developmental
 
 7 disabilities, including individuals on the statewide wait list in
 
 8 fiscal year 2000 in the title XIX medicaid home- and community-
 
 9 based services waiver program.
 
10      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
11 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        or so much
 
12 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 to serve as
 
13 the State's share of matching federal title XIX medicaid funds
 
14 for individuals with developmental disabilities who are eligible
 
15 for the home- and community-based services program under
 
16 medicaid.
 
17      The sum appropriated by this Act shall be expended by the
 
18 department of health for the purposes of this Act.
 
19      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.