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.C.R. No. 77, S.D. 2, entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau to conduct separate studies on the adequacy of state health care reimbursements to providers who provide services for Medicaid or QUEST recipients and for workers' compensation-related claims.

Specifically, the measure requests that the Legislative Reference Bureau conduct two separate studies that examine payments to providers of health care services: one for Medicaid or QUEST recipients and another for injured employees under workers' compensation insurance. The measure also requests that the Legislative Reference Bureau submit these two studies on a staggered basis prior to the Regular Sessions of 2007 and 2008, respectively.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the Hawaii Business Roundtable, and the Hawaii Long Term Care Association. The Legislative Reference Bureau submitted comments on this measure.

Your Committees find that the State pays for a considerable amount of health care and controls certain types of payments for health care made to providers. Your Committees further find that it is in the public interest to ensure that these health care payments made with state funds or controlled by the State are sufficient to cover the actual costs of care in the Medicare or QUEST context and under the workers compensation insurance system.

Your Committees have amended the measure by adding a provision that requests that interested parties submit relevant information and data applicable to determining reimbursement rates for providers of services for Medicaid or QUEST recipients to the Legislative Reference Bureau not later than May 31, 2006. In addition, technical nonsubstantive amendments were made to the text and title of the measure for the purposes of style and consistency.

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 concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 77, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Finance, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 77, S.D. 2, H.D. 1.