STAND. COM. REP. NO. 121

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 530

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 530 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE OFFICE OF THE LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to support the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program by appropriating funds to the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman to support the services on Oahu and provide funds for contracted services through the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman in the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the State Long Term Care Ombudsman, Maui County Office on Aging, AARP Hawaii, Kokua Council, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142 Hawaii, and eight individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Executive Office on Aging.

     Your Committees find that the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is a federally and state mandated program that lacks sufficient resources to fulfill its responsibilities and adequately protect the 12,340 long-term care residents in Hawaii.  Your Committees find that Hawaii is the only state in the country with a Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program staff of one, and that according to a 1995 recommendation by the Institute of Medicine, Hawaii should have a minimum of six full-time long-term care ombudsmen.

Your Committees note that the responsibilities and logistics of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program have become even more challenging since 1995 because today's residents live in many different types of facilities, whereas historically most residents lived in nursing homes.  While the program certifies and utilizes volunteers, recruiting and retaining volunteers take considerable resources, and volunteers cannot substitute for a full-time, highly trained staff position.  Your Committees recognize that Hawaii's seniors have been negatively impacted by the insufficient staffing of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.  Your Committees find that this program is essential to ensuring that the State's long-term care facilities are safe for Hawaii's kupuna and that older adults across the State have access to the services they need.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting language to establish one permanent, full-time program specialist IV position on Oahu within the Executive Office on Aging's Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and clarifying that the appropriation of $75,000 for the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman to be distributed to the City and County of Honolulu is to fund that position; 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 Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 530, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 530, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair