SSCR1145

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1145

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 700

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 700, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COGNITIVE ASSESSMENTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a Cognitive Assessments for Medicare Beneficiaries Pilot Program within the Executive Office on Aging; and

(2) Require:

(A) The Executive Office on Aging to collaborate with a health care system for the pilot program;

(B) Health care providers participating in the pilot program to submit certain information to the Executive Office on Aging; and

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, State Health Planning and Development Agency, Hawaiʻi Parkinson Association, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association, Hawaiʻi Public Health Association, Hawaiʻi Psychological Association, Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans, Alzheimer's Association – Hawaii, and thirteen individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Executive Office on Aging, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias is of pressing concern to the State. Your Committee further finds that early detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias can reduce costs, manage comorbid conditions, delay disease progression, and allow better care planning. Your Committee notes that Medicare beneficiaries who have opted to take Medicare part B coverage receive an annual cognitive assessment as part of their supplemental coverage. Your Committee additionally finds that broadening the use of cognitive assessments is an important strategy to identify patients who may benefit from current and future treatments for Alzheimer's and related dementias, as assessments provide individuals with information that may facilitate actions to prepare for the future. This measure increases access to cognitive assessments that are already part of many beneficiaries' supplemental Medicare coverage to improve the detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and improve health outcomes for the State's older residents.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing language in the definition of "qualified patient" that would have required an individual Medicare beneficiary to be sixty-five years of age or older to qualify for the Cognitive Assessments for Medicare Beneficiaries Pilot Program with language to require an individual Medicare beneficiary to be at heightened risk for cognitive impairments, regardless of age;

(2) Inserting language to include individuals with developmental disabilities who are predisposed to early cognitive decline into the definition of "qualified patient";

(3) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(4) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2026; and

(5) 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 H.B. No. 700, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 700, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Commerce and Consumer Protection.

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

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair