STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2991

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2115

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 2115, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require Med-QUEST and Medicaid to cover the cost of chiropractic services, limited to twenty-four visits per calendar year.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Primary Care Association and Hawaii State Chiropractic Association.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.

     Your Committees find that more than twenty-five states include chiropractic care in their Medicaid programs, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services list chiropractic as a pre-approved service for Medicaid.  Your Committees further find that chiropractic services can help improve physical health, increase functional capacity, and prevent disabling conditions.  Your Committees note that there was a significant difference between the amounts deemed necessary by the Department of Human Services and the Hawaii State Chiropractic Association, in their respective testimony, to fund the additional services proposed by this measure.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Substituting the term "QUEST Integration" for all references to QUEST to reflect the combination of two programs within the Department of Human Services; and

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

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2115, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2115, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection,

____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair