STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1276-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   S.B. No. 3258

      S.D. 3

      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. 3258, S.D. 3, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEDICAID HOSPITAL AND LONG TERM CARE REIMBURSEMENTS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to work toward addressing Hawaii's long term care needs by:

     (1)  Establishing guidelines for Medicaid reimbursement to:

         (A)  Hospitals for patients who are waitlisted for long- term care; and

          (B)  Long-term care facilities for patients with medically complex conditions who were previously receiving care in an acute care hospital;

          and

     (2)  Appropriating funds for increased Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals and facilities with long- term care beds.

     The Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Hawaii Pacific Health, Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, The Queen's Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, and Hawaii Long Term Care Association testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Human Services opposed this measure.  The Department of the Attorney General provided comments.

     Your Committees have amended this bill by:

     (1)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, and inserting a repeal date of June 30, 2013, to encourage further discussion; and

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

     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. 3258, S.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3258, S.D. 3, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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