STAND. COM. REP. NO 448

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 481

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 481 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to encourage individuals with disabilities to gain employment and improve their employment opportunities through expanding their access to Medicaid by:

     (1)  Establishing a Medicaid buy-in program within the Department of Human Services that will be implemented by July 1, 2018;

     (2)  Establishing and appropriating funds for a Medicaid buy-in pilot program within the Department of Health that will be implemented by July 1, 2016, and terminated on June 30, 2018; and

     (3)  Appropriating funds to the University of Hawaii Center on Disability Studies to prepare and conduct outreach and training relating to the Medicaid buy-in program for workers with disabilities.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Primary Care Association and Ohana Health Plan.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Easter Seals Hawaii.

     Prior to the hearing on this measure, your Committee posted and made available for public review a proposed S.D. 1, which amends this measure by:

     (1)  Removing provisions that established the Medicaid buy-in program and the Medicaid buy-in pilot program as well as the appropriation for the pilot program;

     (2)  Removing the appropriation for the University of Hawaii Center on Disability Studies for outreach and training related to the Medicaid buy-in program;

     (3)  Inserting language that establishes the working disabled adults eligibility group within the Department of Human Services, for the purpose of supporting employment of individuals with disabilities by expanding their access to Medicaid, and establishing eligibility criteria for the group which will be implemented by July 1, 2015;

     (4)  Inserting an appropriation for the working disabled adults eligibility group;

     (5)  Making the measure effective upon its approval and the appropriation effective on July 1, 2015; and

     (6)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the proposed S.D. 1 from the Department of Health, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, and Lanakila Pacific.  Your Committee received comments on the proposed S.D. 1 from the Hawaii Disability Rights Center.

Your Committee finds that current state programs and policies, including state-designed Medicaid waiver programs, create disincentives for persons with disabilities to become employed, maintain employment, or increase their employment income.  In 2012, a joint legislative task force was formed to explore the possibility of implementing a Medicaid buy-in program for individuals with disabilities who are not working or would like to earn more income, based upon Hawaii's Medicaid income and asset limits.  Your Committee further finds that encouraging individuals to gain employment and improve their employment promotes the idea of having a fulfilling life for individuals with disabilities and also promotes economic development in the State.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by adopting the proposed S.D. 1.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 481, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 481, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services and Housing,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair