STAND. COM. REP. NO. 314

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 908

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Housing and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 908 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to restore basic adult dental benefits to Medicaid enrollees, provide outreach and eligibility services at federally qualified health centers, and establish health care homes.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, The Queen's Health Systems, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, Hoola Lahui Hawaii, Hana Health, Hawaii Primary Care Association, Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services, and Lanai Community Health Center.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of Human Services, and Department of Health.

     Your Committees find that it is in the best interest of the State to ensure access to primary, behavioral, dental, and preventive healthcare for Hawaii's residents.  Your Committees note the critical importance of restoring adult dental benefits for Medicaid enrollees and for funding community health centers, which serve uninsured, underinsured, and low-income populations.  In addition to providing a patient-centered delivery system of medical, behavioral, and dental health services, community health centers are a smart investment that save the State money.  Community health centers save the health care system $1,263 per patient per year due to timely, effective care, and care management.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Replacing the term "health care homes" with "health homes" to be consistent with section 2703 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010;

     (2)  Changing the expending agency of the community health centers special fund monies to the Department of Health to comply with section 321-1.65, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (3)  Inserting a general revenue appropriation of $1,000,000 for the administrative support of the health homes program; and

     (4)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Housing and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 908, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 908, 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 Housing and Health,

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair