REPORT TITLE:
Medically Underserved


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates funds to DHS to support primary health care for
medically underserved populations. (HB2966 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2966
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 HEALTH. 


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

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that it is in the best
 
 2 interest of the State to ensure access to primary and preventive
 
 3 health care for all its residents.  This care not only results in
 
 4 a healthier and more productive population, but also reduces
 
 5 publicly-supported costs for hospital and emergency room use for
 
 6 preventable conditions.
 
 7      Over one hundred thousand people in Hawaii, including over
 
 8 thirty thousand children and over ten thousand elderly aged
 
 9 sixty-five and over, have no health insurance, and that number is
 
10 rising.  Additionally, budget restrictions have forced the QUEST
 
11 program to tighten eligibility requirements that have cut thirty
 
12 thousand people from its enrollment.
 
13      The legislature further finds that particular pockets of
 
14 population demographics in Hawaii have disproportionately severe
 
15 health problems and concurrently lack health insurance and health
 
16 care accessibility.  For example, native Hawaiians have higher
 
17 mortality rates due to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma,
 
18 and bronchitis, and a significant proportion of newly arrived
 
19 immigrants have hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and Hansen's disease.
 
20 The increasing homeless population is also a contributory factor
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 to the poor health profile, and poor health in children affects
 
 2 their growth and learning potential.  Furthermore, certain
 
 3 geographic areas in Hawaii, such as Ka'u, Puna, Hamakua, and
 
 4 Waianae, have some of the worse health indicators.
 
 5      The legislature further finds that budget restrictions have
 
 6 also affected the solvency of safety-net providers, such as
 
 7 community health centers, that predominantly serve the QUEST
 
 8 population.
 
 9      The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for
 
10 medically underserved populations.
 
11      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
12 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $           or so much
 
13 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 to support
 
14 primary health care for medically underserved populations.
 
15      The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of
 
16 human services for the purposes of this Act.
 
17      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.