STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1025-06

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: S.B. No. 3247

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 3247, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CARE HOMES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to assist care home operators with the increased costs of care by:

(1) Specifying that domiciliary care includes care provided in developmental disabilities domiciliary homes, developmental disabilities adult foster homes, community care foster family homes, and developmental disabilities apartment complexes;

(2) Adjusting the level of care payments for type I and type II facilities; and

(3) Requiring the Department of Human Services (DHS) to authorize payments for certain care home residents under certain conditions.

The Hawaii Disability Rights Center, United Group of Care Home Operators, Adult Foster Home Association of Hawaii, and Alliance of Residential Care Home Administrators testified in support of this bill. The Council on Developmental Disabilities and Disability and Communication Access Board supported the intent of this measure. The Coalition of Care Home Administrators supported this bill with amendments. The Department of Health opposed this measure. DHS offered comments.

Your Committees are supportive of caregivers who put forth so much time and effort to care for others. Your Committees heard several measures to assist caregivers, and one of those measures includes provisions to increase level of care payments.

Accordingly, your Committees have deleted the contents of this measure and inserted contents that:

(1) Amend county provisions to allow for an increase in the maximum capacity for adult family boarding homes and care homes from five to six non-family members, and increasing from two to three, the number of those non-family members that may be incapable of self-preservation;

(2) Increase the capacity for adult residential care homes as follows:

(a) From five to six unrelated persons for type I homes; and

(b) From six to seven persons for type II homes;

(3) Increase the capacity for expanded adult residential care homes as follows:

(a) From five to six residents and from two to three nursing facility level residents for type I homes; and

(b) From six to seven residents for type II homes;

(4) Increase the capacity for community care foster family homes from two to three adults, and of those adults, increasing the number of Medicaid recipients from one to two;

(5) Require adult residential care homes to reserve at least one bed for Medicaid patients; and

(6) Make permanent the home- and community-based case management agencies and community care foster family homes law.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3247, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3247, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Health,

____________________________ DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair		____________________________ ALEX M. SONSON, Chair