STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1345

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: S.B. No. 1592

S.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 1592, S.D. 2, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to establish three full-time equivalent 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 Executive Office on Aging, Disability and Communication Access Board, Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, AARP Hawai‘i, Hawaii Family Caregiver Coalition, and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that the State's Senior Medicare Patrol Program was established in 1997 to educate, protect, and advocate for the State's seniors and has operated with only two full-time staff to recruit, train, and retain a cohort of volunteers statewide. As the State's baby boomer generation continues to age, the number of people eligible for Medicare will continue to grow, increasing the number of people serviced by the Senior Medicare Patrol Program. This measure will expand the Executive Office on Aging's personnel capacity to meet the demands for timely, accurate, and reliable services to kupuna, their families, and caregivers in need.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1592, S.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair