STAND. COM. REP. NO. 559
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: S.B. No. 802
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Health and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 802 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A STATE PHARMACY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to create a state pharmacy assistance program to provide benefits to certain elderly and disabled individuals to assist in defraying costs for medically necessary prescriptions under the new federal Medicare Part D Drug Benefit Program.
The Department of Human Services and the Department of Health submitted testimony in support of this measure. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America submitted testimony in opposition.
Your Committees find that with the rising cost of prescription medication, many seniors and disabled individuals who are living on fixed incomes find it hard to make ends meet, even though they receive Medicare benefits. Some of these Medicare-eligible individuals are also Medicaid recipients who now enjoy one hundred percent drug coverage benefits under Medicaid. However, with their mandatory participation in the new Federal Medicare Modernization Act, these same individuals will lose their current level of drug coverage. Establishing a state pharmacy assistance program would assist current Medicaid recipients to retain more of their current drug benefits as well as increase the population of Medicare individuals who may take advantage of this drug benefit. This program will also facilitate the enrollment and coordination of benefits between the state pharmacy assistance program and the new Medicare Part D drug benefit program.
Your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Substituting "and is meant to cover pharmaceutical costs that are not covered by the medicare part D program" in proposed section 346-D(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes, with "subject to receipt of sufficient rebates pursuant to section 346-B(g), as determined by the department";
(2) Adding proposed subsection 346-D(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, regarding funding the state pharmacy assistance program with state appropriations derived from revenues to the State from rebates paid by pharmaceutical manufacturers;
(3) Deleting the entire proposed section 346-E and replacing it with a provision regarding spending authority that requires the department to expend all revenues received from the rebates; and
(4) Making technical, non-substantive amendments for clarity and style.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 802, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 802, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing,
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____________________________ RON MENOR, Chair |
____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair |
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