Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Housing and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1870 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to require the Department of Human Services (DHS) to provide presumptive Medicaid or QUEST coverage to low-income pregnant women.

The Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Good Beginnings Alliance, Mothers Care for Tomorrow's Children, Kokua Kalihi Valley, March of Dimes Hawaii Chapter, Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, and several individuals testified in support of this measure. Hawaii Primary Care Association supported the intent of this measure.

DHS opposed the measure.

Your Committees find that DHS provides Medicaid or QUEST coverage for low-income pregnant women on the 46^th day, if an application is not processed within 45 days, until an eligibility determination can be made. However, outreach workers claim that it sometimes takes up to six or eight weeks for eligibility to be granted. Additionally, at the time of the initial application, some individuals may already be several months into the pregnancy.

Your Committees find that this is an issue of expeditious processing of applications. Although DHS has greatly reduced their backlog of pending applications, this measure would require additional positions on each island.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this bill by:

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Housing and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1870, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1870, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.