WHEREAS, the rising cost of rehabilitation services and other health care costs and concomitant increases in insurance premiums and workers compensation payments are well documented; and

WHEREAS, one component of the cost for such health care is the necessity of receiving short- or long-term physical therapy and rehabilitation services; and

WHEREAS, many insurance policies contain limitations on coverage provided for physical therapy and rehabilitation services, if coverage is provided at all; and

WHEREAS, it is well-settled that providing necessary physical therapy and rehabilitation services greatly increases the likelihood of an individual achieving maximum recovery and becoming a functioning, economically productive member of the community once again; and

WHEREAS, Congress has recently reduced the budget for Hill-Burton payments to providers of services for the poor and Medicaid-eligible individuals; and

WHEREAS, this has resulted in an increase in the number of low income, uninsured, and Medicaid-eligible individuals needing medical care, including rehabilitation services; and

WHEREAS, new and innovative approaches need to be developed to address the skyrocketing costs of medical care and the provision of specialized care to individuals with low incomes, who are uninsured or underinsured, or who are Medicaid-eligible; and

WHEREAS, one example of an organization which has taken an innovative approach to providing free or low-cost rehabilitation services to low income or uninsured individuals without government funds is Hawaii Services for the Disabled, Inc. (Hawaii Services for the Disabled); and

WHEREAS, Hawaii Services for the Disabled operates the All-Star Sports & Therapy Center, built with funds from the Hawaii Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, All-Star Sports & Therapy Center provides a full range of rehabilitation services and maintains state-of-the-art facilities for cardiac rehabilitation and an oxygenated swimming pool; and

WHEREAS, All-Star Sports & Therapy Center can provide these services at a substantially reduced cost than private, for-profit providers, thereby reducing the cost of care; and

WHEREAS, All-Star Sports & Therapy Center has provided rehabilitation services at no cost to low income, Medicaid-eligible, and uninsured individuals for several years; and

WHEREAS, All-Star Sports & Therapy Center may be a model for delivery of specialized health care to the low income underinsured population; and

WHEREAS, the State and other entities that provide payments for rehabilitative services could potentially save substantial sums if employees and members of these entities received rehabilitation services at facilities like All-Star Sports & Therapy Center; and

WHEREAS, the State should explore the feasibility of entering into public-private partnerships as a means of lowering health care costs for specialized services, such as rehabilitation services, for low income, Medicaid-eligible, underinsured and uninsured individuals, and government employees; and

WHEREAS, all major stakeholders should be included in the discussion in order to develop a reasonable, rational approach to delivering specialized health care to low income and Medicaid-eligible individuals in Hawaii; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that the Department of Human Services is requested to establish a task force to explore the feasibility of entering into public-private partnerships for the purposes of providing cost-effective rehabilitation services to low income and Medicaid-eligible individuals and government employees; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include members as follows:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to submit a report of findings and recommendations of the task force, including proposed legislation, if any, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2004 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Directors of Human Services, Human Resources Development, and Labor and Industrial Relations; the Chief of the Workers Compensation Division of the Department of Human Resources Development; the Administrator of the Disability Compensation Division of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; the Administrator of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division of the Department of Human Services; the Hawaii Government Employees' Association; the United Public Workers; the Hawaii State Teachers' Association; the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly; Hawaii Services for the Disabled, Inc.; All-Star Sports & Therapy Center; HMSA; Kaiser Permanente; Hawaii Pacific Health; AlohaCare; the Hawaii Uninsured Project; the Hawaii Insurers Council; and the Hawaii Medical Association.

Report Title:

Feasibility Study; Public-Private Partnership for Rehabilitation Services