STAND. COM. REP. NO. 823

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 169

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 169, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HAWAII HEALTH CORPS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to establish the Hawaii health corps program to address physician shortages in rural areas of the State.  The Hawaii health corps program consists of the loan repayment program and the recruitment program.

Specifically, this measure establishes a loan repayment program to be administered by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, to attract repayment health care professionals to serve a minimum of two years and up to a maximum of five years in a health professional shortage area as designated by the Department of Health in return for repayment of qualifying educational loans for eligible expenses of education.  A repayment health care professional is defined as a physician, family care practitioner, internist, pediatrician, obstetrician, general psychologist, or general practice dentist.

The measure establishes a companion health professional recruitment and retention program to recruit health professionals or public or private nonprofit entities or communities that employ a recruitment health professional to work in a recruitment health professional shortage area to be designated by the Department of Health.  Eligibility and terms of services are the same as for the loan repayment program.  Recruitment health professionals are defined as allopathic and osteopathic physicians (family practitioners, internists, pediatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists, and general psychiatrists), nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, physician assistants, dentists, registered clinical dental hygienists, clinical or counseling psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurse specialists, mental health counselors, licensed professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, and health care specialists.

     This measure further:

(1)  Provides for cancellation or suspension of the service obligation for certain reasons;

(2)  Payment of penalties for defaulting on the service contract;

(3)  Requires repayment health care professionals and recruitment health professionals to serve as first responders when a civil defense or other emergency is proclaimed;

(4)  Creates the Hawaii health corps special fund to be administered by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to fund the loan repayment and recruitment programs;

(5)  Sets preferences for the two programs and gives priority to certain applicants including native Hawaiians and graduates of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns school of medicine, among others;

(6)  Limits the amount of the incentive for recruitment recipients to $17,500 per year;

(7)  Limits the amount of the award for loan repayments to an amount not to exceed the maximum amounts permitted under 42 United States Code 254q-1;

(8)  Requires the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to:

(A)  Award a minimum of thirty stipends of $30,000 per recipient in the first year of the program, an additional thirty stipends of $30,000 per recipient in the second year of the program, and an additional thirty stipends of $30,000 per recipient in the third year of the program, and a maximum one hundred stipends annually thereafter; and

(B)  Report annually to the Legislature on the status of the Hawaii health corps program; and

(9)  Appropriates unspecified sums for fiscal years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 to fund the Hawaii health corps program.

     Your Committee received three written comments on this measure.  The written comments may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committee believes that the Hawaii health corps program is essential in attracting various health professionals to serve in various health professional shortage areas in the State.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Deleting references to the trauma system and the community health centers special funds;

(2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 169, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 169, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair