STAND. COM. REP. NO. 724

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1344

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 1344 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Human Services to include in its request for proposals for QUEST providers various provisions to safeguard against disruption of services that may be caused by positive enrollment.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by AlohaCare, Hawaii Primary Care Association, Waikiki Health Center, and Waimanalo Health Center.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Human Services' positive enrollment policy requires a QUEST recipient to reenroll in the recipient's health plan within ten days of its expiration, or the Department automatically assigns the individual to a health plan, which may or may not be the recipient's existing plan.

Your Committee has heard that these positive enrollment requirements cause confusion and delays in needed health care procedures, disrupt case management, and result in the loss of contact between QUEST recipients and their current primary care providers.  Advocates of the policy, however, cite positive enrollment as a means of increasing competition among service providers, lowering the cost of healthcare overall, allowing for new plans to enter into the market, and expanding the scope of services provided to QUEST recipients.

Your Committee finds that this measure strikes a balance between the benefits of positive enrollment and the potential adverse consequences of the policy by allowing the Department of Human Services to implement the policy with limitations.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1344 and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair