STAND. COM. REP. NO. 727

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 617

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 617 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ORAL HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish an Oral Health Task Force to review information on the status of oral health in the State and make recommendations to improve oral health infrastructure in Hawaii; and

(2) Appropriate funds for the hiring of staff to facilitate the work of the task force and develop a public dental health program in the State.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing, Hawai‘i Oral Health Coalition, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Hawaii Dental Service, Hawai‘i Children's Action Network Speaks!, Papa Ola Lokahi, The Queen's Health System, Hawaii Island Community Health Center, Hawaii Dental Hygienists' Association, AlohaCare, and eight individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from Department of Human Services and Hawaii Dental Association.

Your Committee finds that the State's public oral health infrastructure is inadequate to meet the needs of its people. The legislature further finds that only two hundred forty Federally Qualified Health Centers and general practice dentists are active in Medicaid in Hawaii and with the reinstatement of dental benefits for adults insured by Medicaid in 2022, demand for oral health providers will only increase. Additionally, most of the primary and specialty oral health providers are in the urban areas of the City and County of Honolulu, making access to oral health care more difficult for individuals in rural areas and on the neighbor islands. Your Committee finds that this measure is intended to identify key elements and additional staff resources that are necessary to rebuild Hawaii's oral health infrastructure.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 617, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 617, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health & Homelessness,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair