STAND. COM. REP. NO. 411

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 900

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. 900 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII STATE HEALTH INSURANCE ASSISTANCE 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 Hawaii's State Health Insurance Assistance Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health Executive Office on Aging, AARP Hawai‘i, Kūpuna Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Family Caregiver Coalition, and twenty-two individuals.

Your Committee finds that the rules and procedures for Medicare eligibility and enrollment are complex and difficult to navigate, especially for kupuna. Hawaii's State Health Insurance Assistance Program provides free, local, unbiased, and confidential one-to-one counseling and education to help newly eligible individuals and existing enrollees understand and access Medicare benefits. Despite the State's Medicare population more than doubling since the inception of Hawaii's State Health Insurance Assistance Program in 1992, the program has continued to employ just two staff members and relies upon more than eighty volunteers to provide services. To meet the increased demand for services, this measure expands the capacity of Hawaii's State Health Insurance Assistance Program by appropriating funds for three additional 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.

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. 900, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 900, 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