STAND. COM. REP. NO. 239

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 819

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 819 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HOSPITAL SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to improve health care in the State by preserving access to health care for Medicaid recipients, which will be accomplished by extending the Hospital Sustainability Program.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services, Hawaii Primary Care Association, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawai‘i Pacific Health, The Queen's Health Systems, and Kaiser Permanente Hawai‘i.

Your Committees find that the hospital sustainability program is key in protecting hospital access for Medicaid beneficiaries, which is especially important as the State continues to work its way out of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the attendant recession. Your Committees further find that the program functions by levying a fee on participating providers. The funds generated through that fee are used to draw down additional matching federal dollars, which are then distributed back to the providers to help them cover the gap between the amounts Medicaid reimburses and the amounts Medicare reimburses for medical services. Your Committees also find that these funds will increase the sustainability of hospitals to continue as a critical part of the safety net and help address budget constraints in the Medicaid program. Most importantly, the program as designed would provide critical additional State funds that will help cover the program's budget shortfall without using any general fund revenues.

Your Committees have amended this measure by 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 Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 819, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 819, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair