STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2591

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2030

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2030, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to prevent delays in payment to QUEST health plans.

More specifically, this measure:

(1)  Exempts QUEST plans from paying interest due under the clean claims act when delays are due to failure by government payers to reimburse QUEST plans for services performed;

(2)  Requires the State to pay interest to QUEST plans for delayed Medicaid payments; and

(3)  Appropriates funds from the hurricane reserve trust fund, and authorizes expenditure of matching federal funds to address the Medicaid shortfall.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Healthcare Association of Hawaii and Ohana Health Plan.  Comments in opposition were submitted by the Department of Budget and Finance and the Department of Human Services.  The Med-QUEST Division of the Department of Human Services, the Hawaii Medical Service Association, and the Hawaii Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association submitted comments on this measure.  The written comments may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committee finds that this measure will provide an incentive for the State to make timely payments to its QUEST plans.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Changing the appropriation amount from the hurricane reserve trust fund to an unspecified sum;

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

(3)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of 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. 2030, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2030, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair