STAND. COM. REP. NO. 508-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 2182

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 2182 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a three-year Kau Community Health Worker Pilot Program in Kau, Hawaii County, to provide outreach, education, training, and navigation to community members and address social determinants of health.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; State Health Planning and Development Agency; Papa Ola Lokahi; and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and one individual.

Your Committee finds that community health workers can provide critical health care support services to patients in rural, remote, and underserved communities. In addition to connecting patients to their care providers via telehealth, community health workers also provide outreach such as assisting individuals in applying for medical insurance, providing health education resources, and assisting individuals in navigating health care and social service systems. Your Committee believes that a pilot program examining the types of services provided by community health workers will provide valuable insight into the development and deployment of a community health care worker workforce in the State.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Broadening the scope of the pilot program to include all rural communities in the State, rather than solely Kau, Hawaii County;

(2) Requiring the nonprofit organization contracted by the Department of Health to oversee the pilot program to have the capacity to provide culturally competent training and services;

(3) Inserting a definition of "rural";

(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee believes that the Department of Health, based on its extensive work with community health workers through numerous federal grants awarded to the Department, is best suited for estimating the cost of administering a pilot program of this nature. Therefore, your Committee respectfully requests the Department of Health to provide your Committee on Finance with the cost of administering two Rural Community Health Worker Pilot Programs, one on the Island of Kauai and one on the Island of Hawaii.

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. 2182, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2182, 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