STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1175

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2011

RE:   S.B. No. 420

      S.D. 3

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 420, S.D. 3, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to appropriate funds to expand direct health care services to qualified individuals and to finance projects at designated federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) statewide.  More specifically, this bill appropriates funds for:

     (1)  Direct health care for the uninsured at FQHCs;

     (2)  Adult dental benefits to Medicaid enrollees;

     (3)  Compliance with federal regulations that require at least one outstationed eligibility worker at every FQHC;

     (4)  Outreach services to families and to families with children eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program;

     (5)  The immigrant health initiative;

     (6)  The establishment of an office to promote meaningful use and to certify the eligibility of providers to obtain federal funds; and

     (7)  Capital improvements to health facilities in rural areas.

This bill also requires that federal matching funds be obtained for certain appropriations.

     The Hawaii Primary Care Association; Papa Ola Lokahi; Kalihi-Palama Health Center; American Cancer Society Hawai'i Pacific, Inc.; and several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Human Services (DHS) supported the intent of this measure.  The Department of Health, Department of the Attorney General, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and Healthcare Association of Hawaii provided comments.

     Your Committees have amended this bill by:

     (1)  Adding an appropriation for breast and cervical cancer screening;

     (2)  Providing that direct care services at FQHCs may also include breast and cervical cancer screening;

     (3)  Clarifying that the newly-established office to certify the eligibility of providers to obtain federal funds will also promote the meaningful use of electronic health records;

     (4)  Clarifying that the funds provided for capital improvements to rural area health care clinics and centers are grants pursuant to Chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and amending the names of the clinics and centers to their legally-recognized names;

     (5)  Requiring DHS to submit the State Medicaid Health Information Technology Plan to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services no later than December 31, 2011, to take advantage of federal funding; and

     (6)  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 that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 420, S.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 420, 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,

____________________________ JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair

____________________________ RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair