STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1099

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 17

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 17 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION MANDATING COVERAGE OF EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES FOR INFANTS AND CHILDREN FROM BIRTH TO AGE THREE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Auditor to conduct an impact assessment report of the social and financial impacts of mandating health insurance coverage for medically necessary early intervention services for infants and toddlers from birth to age three.

     Testimony in support of this measure was provided by the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Hawaii Early Intervention Coordinating Council, and Kaiser Permanente.  Written testimony presented to the Committees may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committees find that early intervention services have a positive impact on the quality of life for children with special health care needs and their families.  Your Committees further find that passage of this measure is a necessary condition under section 23-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to considering S.B. No. 795, which mandates health insurers to provide coverage for medically necessary early intervention services for certain infants and toddlers.

     Your Committees have amended this measure as follows:

     (1)  By requesting the Auditor to review and report findings on the benefits and services mandated by relevant state and federal laws, services currently provided by the State, and funding the State receives from the federal government to provide these services; and

     (2)  By making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 17, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 17, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection,

____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair