STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1476-06

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: S.B. No. 3003

S.D. 2

H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 3003, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATE PHARMACY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to improve the State Pharmacy Assistance Program (Program) by, among other things:

(1) Requiring the Program to be qualified by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;

(2) Requiring the Department of Human Services (DHS) to provide enrollment assistance to eligible individuals relating to the various Medicare prescription drug plans;

(3) Expanding the income eligibility requirements to individuals with household incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL);

(4) Specifying that DHS may pay for certain Medicare prescription drug benefit costs, rather than requiring DHS to pay the costs; and

(5) Stipulating that the Program shall be funded with state appropriations and savings resulting from Medicare prescription drug coverage for the Medicaid dual eligible population.

AARP Hawaii, Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, and the Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans testified in support of this bill. The Attorney General and DHS offered comments.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Changing the appropriation from $600,000 to $1 to promote further discussion;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3003, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3003, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

		____________________________ DWIGHT TAKAMINE, Chair