STAND. COM. REP. NO. 315

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1592

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 1592 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SENIOR MEDICARE PATROL PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for three full-time equivalent (3.0 FTE) Program Specialist positions within the Executive Office on Aging for the State's Senior Medicare Patrol Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health Executive Office on Aging, Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, Kūpuna Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, AARP Hawai‘i, and ten individuals.

Your Committee finds that the safety and welfare of the State's kupuna is a priority. The State's Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) Program educates, assists, and protects Hawaii's most vulnerable population by providing one-to-one counseling, conducting community outreach, and working with other service providers to build a "help net" to assist kupuna statewide. While the State's SMP Program was established to protect kupuna from Medicare fraud, it has since expanded and established a network of partnerships across the finance, technology, legal, and retail industries to help kupuna triage non-health related fraud cases. The State's SMP Program also serves as a reliable source of accurate information and responsive assistance with Medicare, Medicaid, and other health-related scams. Despite significant increases in scam incidences, the program continues to employ just two temporary full-time staff positions and relies upon volunteers to provide services. To meet the increased demand for services, this measure expands the capacity of the State's SMP Program by appropriating funds for three Program Specialist positions.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a blank appropriation amount;

(2) Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider inserting an appropriation amount of $229,680.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1592, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1592, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair