REPORT TITLE:
Relating to Developmental
Disabilities


DESCRIPTION:
Makes an appropriation to match federal funds for medicaid for
home- and community-based care for persons with developmental
disabilities. (HB2271 HD2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2271
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that individuals with
 
 2 developmental disabilities (individuals) require life-long
 
 3 support and services.  The best treatment for these individuals
 
 4 is to be independent, productive, integrated, and included in the
 
 5 community.  Act 189, Session Laws of Hawaii 1995, was intended to
 
 6 transition individuals residing at Waimano training school and
 
 7 hospital into the community by mandating that all programs and
 
 8 services for these individuals be provided for in the community.
 
 9 Act 189, Session Laws of Hawaii 1995, also required the
 
10 department of health to maximize state funds for community
 
11 services, using these funds as a match for title XIX federal
 
12 programs, other governmental programs, and privately financed
 
13 programs.
 
14      The legislature further finds that a medicaid waiver program
 
15 under section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act was designed to
 
16 allow states to provide long-term care, support, and services in
 
17 the community by using at least fifty per cent of federal dollars
 
18 for individuals who would otherwise be institutionalized.  The
 
19 medicaid and community-based services waiver program provides an
 
20 array of services such as adult day health, personal assistance,
 

 
Page 2                                                     2271
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 environmental accessibility adaptations, habilitation, supported
 
 2 employment, respite care, skilled nursing, and specialized
 
 3 services designed to support the individual's right to live in
 
 4 the community.
 
 5      The departments of health and human services implemented a
 
 6 home- and community-based services waiver program in 1983. The
 
 7 program presently serves approximately nine hundred seventy
 
 8 individuals, and there are over seven hundred individuals who may
 
 9 be eligible for the waitlist.  The number of individuals on the
 
10 wait list continues to grow.
 
11      The legislature further finds that the home- and community-
 
12 based waiver program impacts on the economic well-being of the
 
13 State due to the labor intensive nature of the program.
 
14 Increased funding for the program will significantly increase the
 
15 number of individuals to be employed in the program, which will
 
16 be helped by using matching federal dollars.
 
17      The legislature is concerned that recent statistics indicate
 
18 that Hawaii ranks forty-seventh in its level of funding for
 
19 community services, and fiftieth in its total funding effort for
 
20 mental retardation and developmental disabilities services.
 
21 Furthermore, the home- and community-based services waiver
 
22 program is underfunded, which causes the State to use state
 
23 dollars and to miss the opportunity to maximize federal dollars.
 

 
Page 3                                                     2271
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      The purpose of this Act is to appropriate state funds as
 
 2 matching federal funds to serve individuals with developmental
 
 3 disabilities, including individuals on the statewide wait list in
 
 4 fiscal year 2000 in the title XIX medicaid home- and community-
 
 5 based services waiver program.
 
 6      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 7 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        or so much
 
 8 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 to serve as
 
 9 the State's share of matching federal title XIX medicaid funds
 
10 for individuals with developmental disabilities who are eligible
 
11 for the home- and community-based services program under
 
12 medicaid.
 
13      The sum appropriated by this Act shall be expended by the
 
14 department of health for the purposes of this Act.
 
15      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.