STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2956

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1943

       H.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1943, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide an inflationary adjustment to the long-term care reimbursement methodology used to reimburse facilities for Medicaid recipients.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation; Oahu Region Hawaii Health Systems Corporation; Aloha Nursing Rehab Centre; Ann Pearl Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Garden Isle Healthcare & Rehabilitation; Hale Kupuna Heritage Home; Hale Makua Health Services; Hale Makua Long-Term Care; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Ito Healthcare Group; Legacy of Life Hawaii; Ohana Pacific Management Company, Inc.; One Kalakaua Senior Living; Pu‘uwai ‘O Makaha; Clarence T.C. Ching Villas at St. Francis; and The Queen's Health Systems.

     Your Committees find that long-term care facilities in the State face major financial challenges in providing quality health care for Hawaii residents.  These challenges are largely the result of payments for Medicaid enrollees that do not cover the actual costs of care.  Long-term care facilities have not received an inflationary update to their reimbursement rates for a number of years and, as such, have seen the gap between costs and reimbursements widen considerably.  The financial effect is further magnified by the fact that roughly seventy percent of patients in long-term care facilities are covered by the state Medicaid program.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1943, H.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

________________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair