STAND. COM. REP. NO.348
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: H.B. No. 1234
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 1234 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO QUEST,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to ensure greater financial equity to health plans and providers that serve high-risk individuals covered by the QUEST program by:
(1) Directing the Quest Medicaid Agency to calculate and withhold from health plan capitalization payments all dollars budgeted for perinatal services including obstetric and other delivery costs;
(2) Directing QUEST to request state health plans to provide claims paid data on substance abuse and related behavioral health encounter information for the purpose of assessing the feasibility of a substance abuse carve out beginning July 1, 2002;
(3) Directing the Department of Human Services to expand the definition of enabling services to include services such as early periodic screening development testing, native Hawaiian and traditional healing services, and certain services provided by federally qualified health centers; and
(4) Appropriating funds to provide these enabling services under QUEST.
Hawaii Primary Care Association, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, and Papa Ola Lokahi testified in support of this bill. The Department of Human Services opposed this bill.
Your Committee finds that this bill will remove financial disincentives for health plans and providers and encourage them to actively outreach to high risk patients, including pregnant women and girls, native Hawaiian with symptoms of chronic diseases, and substance abusers.
Your Committee has amended this bill by changing the appropriation amount to $1 for the purpose of continued discussion.
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. 1234, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1234, 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,
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____________________________ MICHAEL P. KAHIKINA, Chair |
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