STAND. COM. REP. NO. 311-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: H.B. No. 1834
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was
referred H.B. No. 1834 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LONG-TERM CARE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to continue the work of the
Joint Legislative Committee on Long-term Care Financing (Joint
Legislative Committee) by:

     (1)  Extending the life of the Joint Legislative Committee
          to June 30, 2002;

     (2)  Clarifying requirements for the actuarial study;

     (3)  Extending the completion date of the actuarial study to
          November 15, 2001; and

     (4)  Making appropriations to fund the actuarial study and
          the Joint Legislative Committee expenses.

     The Executive Office on Aging (EOA), the Hawaii State
Commission on the Status of Women, the Hawaii Long Term Care
Association, the Coalition for Affordable Long Term Care, the
American Association of Retired Persons Hawaii State Legislative
Committee, the Kokua Council, Faith Action for Community Equity,
the Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, the ILWU Local 142,
and the Hawaii Nurses' Association testified in support of this

 
 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 311-00
                                 Page 2

 
measure.  The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
submitted comments.

     Within the past eighteen months, the Joint Legislative
Committee has made significant accomplishments, including the
regulation and required recordkeeping of the long-term care
insurance industry using model regulations from the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners.  However, the Joint
Legislative Committee still has unfinished business of devising a
financial program for long-term care.

     According to projections from EOA, by 2010, the number of
persons aged sixty and over will reach approximately 299,500.  By
2020, one in every four of Hawaii's residents will be sixty years
of age or older.  Your Committee finds that it is imperative that
the Joint Legislative Committee continue its vital work to ensure
that a financing plan for long-term care insurance is available
for the increasing number of Hawaii's elderly and disabled.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requiring that the actuarial study be limited to the
          number of alternatives that can be supported by the
          funds appropriated;

     (2)  Requiring that the actuarial study consider the Front-
          end Universal Program in which coverage would begin
          with, among other things, the first two and a half
          years, instead of two years, of nursing home care or a
          comparable type of care;

     (3)  Requiring that the actuarial study consider the Back-
          end Universal Program in which coverage would begin on
          the 91st day, instead of the 366th day, of disability;

     (4)  Appropriating $200,000 to fund the actuarial study;

     (5)  Designating the Legislature, instead of the Joint
          Legislative Committee, as the expending agency for the
          actuarial study; and

     (6)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for
          purposes of clarity and style.

     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 is in accord with the intent and purpose
of H.B. No. 1834, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass

 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 311-00
                                 Page 3

 
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1834, H.D.
1, and 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