STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2471

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2880

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2880 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOME HEALTH CARE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit any increase in the fees charged for providing home health care services during the pendency of an emergency proclamation or state of emergency concerning a public health pandemic on the sole basis that the patient receiving the services requires that the home health care service provider be vaccinated against the underlying disease causing the emergency.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Your Committees find that home health caregivers should not increase their rates when they are requested to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 to treat vulnerable patients. According to testimony from Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the contracts between its members and insurance companies set reimbursement rates that cannot be changed based on the vaccination status of an individual healthcare worker. Your Committees note that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services require that the healthcare workers at Medicare- and Medicaid-certified health facilities in Hawaii be vaccinated by February 28, 2022. Your Committees further note that these Medicare and Medicaid regulations on home health agencies do not apply to independent physicians or clinicians.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2880 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary.

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

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair