STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1092-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   S.B. No. 3255

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Health and Human Services & Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 3255, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LONG TERM CARE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to establish a long-term care commission to research what resources are necessary to meet state long-term care public policy goals and to recommend a program and funding mechanism that may provide long-term care services in the State.

     Specifically, this bill designates members of the commission and sets their terms of office and requires the commission to:

     (1)  Review available research, studies, and previously proposed programs;

     (2)  Establish a purpose statement;

     (3)  Prepare a five-year plan to accomplish the goals, including the recommendation of benchmarks;

     (4)  Monitor federal legislation for changes that may impact the program;

     (5)  Collaborate with interested stakeholders; and

     (6)  Submit an interim report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 regular session, and a final report to the Legislature no later than July 31, 2010.

This bill requires the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Social Sciences Public Policy Center to provide administrative support and staffing to facilitate the work of the long-term care commission.  Finally, this bill appropriates an unspecified amount, to be expended by the University of Hawaii, to support the work of the long-term care commission.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this bill from the American Association of Retired Persons Hawaii, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the Kokua Council, the Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans, the Hawaii Aging Advocates Coalition, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Social Sciences Public Policy Center, and twenty-two individuals.  The State Procurement Office offered comments in opposition to statutory exemption from the State Procurement Code.

     Upon further consideration, your Committees have amended this bill by:

(1)  Clarifying the mission and objectives of the commission relating to the development of a comprehensive plan to reform long-term care services and requiring development of a second plan to detail public and private financial resources;

(2)  Adding to the qualifications of the commission members to include expertise in management and deleting requirements for experience in long-term care or aging-in-place services, facilities planning and management, and medical or health services;

(3)  Adding a further duty of the commission to ensure that addressing the needs of the consumer is the paramount concern of policy development;

(4)  Clarifying six of the original eight elements of the purpose statement to be established by the commission;

(5)  Adding three additional elements to be included in the long-term care reform plan:

(A)  Ensuring that all consumers needing and using long-term care services of any kind can easily access those services;

(B)  Providing consumers with timely access to comprehensive information, including cost and quality information, about financing and service delivery options; and

(C)  Ensuring that health, long-term care, and social services are connected through the use of timely, standardized assessments, care planning, and coordination, and case management.  Special attention shall be given to pre-admission assessment and screening for those who need institutional services, smooth transitions between the current health and long-term care service systems and between institutional services and the community- or home-care services; and

(6)  Clarifying the nature of the interim and final reports to be submitted.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services & Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3255, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3255, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Higher Education.

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

____________________________ MAILE SHIMABUKURO, Chair

____________________________ JOSHUA B. GREEN, M.D., Chair