STAND. COM. REP. NO. 800

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 912

       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 Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 912, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to determine the need for annual inflationary adjustments to the long-term care reimbursement methodology used to reimburse facilities for Medicaid recipients.   

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Hale Makua Health Services, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, The Queen's Health Systems, and Ohana Pacific Management Company.  Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and one individual. 

     Your Committee finds that long-term care facilities in Hawaii face major financial challenges in providing quality health care because Medicaid reimbursements do not fully pay for the actual costs of care.  Medicaid reimbursement rates for long-term care facilities have not been adjusted for inflation for many years due to the economic recession.  As a result, there is now a significant difference between the actual cost of care and reimbursement rates.  Your Committee believes that the first step in resolving this issue is collecting information on annual costs, reimbursements, and shortfalls that long-term care facilities experience.

     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. 912, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair