CONFERENCE
COMMITTEE REP. NO. 173
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2023
RE: S.B. No. 1592
S.D. 2
H.D. 1
C.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2023
State of Hawaii
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2023
State of Hawaii
Sirs:
Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 1592, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SENIOR MEDICARE PATROL PROGRAM,"
having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.
The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the establishment of additional program specialist positions within the Executive Office on Aging for the State's Senior Medicare Patrol Program.
Your Committee on
Conference finds that the State's Senior Medicare Patrol Program, established in
1997, educates, assists, and protects Hawaii's most vulnerable population by
providing one-on-one counseling, conducting community outreach, and working
with other service providers to build a "help net" to assist kupuna
statewide. While originally established to protect kupuna from Medicare
fraud, the scope of the program's services has expanded to assist kupuna triage
other health-related and
non-health related fraud cases. Your
Committee on Conference further finds that despite the significant expansion of
its services and increase in the reported
number of fraudulent activities targeting the State's kupuna, the
program continues to operate with just two full-time staff positions, relying
on volunteers to provide the needed services.
This measure will allow the program to retain additional staff to
effectively meet the rising demand for its services for the State's kupuna.
Your
Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:
(2) Appropriating
$186,288 for fiscal year 2023-2024 and $192,408 for fiscal year 2024-2025 for
the establishment of one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) Program Specialist III
position, one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) Program Specialist IV position,
and one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) Program Specialist V position within the
Executive Office on Aging for the State's Senior Medicare Patrol Program;
(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2023;
and
(4) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and
consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1592, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1592, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:
ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE |
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ON THE PART OF THE SENATE |
____________________________ JOHN M. MIZUNO Co-Chair |
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____________________________ HENRY J.C. AQUINO Chair |
____________________________ BERTRAND KOBAYASHI Co-Chair |
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____________________________ SHARON MORIWAKI Co-Chair |
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