STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2359

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2272

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2272 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOME HEALTH LICENSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize the Department of Health to accept accreditation from an accreditation organization or a certification organization recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as demonstration that a licensed home health agency is in compliance with all licensing inspections required by the State;

(2) Specify conditions under which a home health agency may be exempt from a licensing inspection on a continuing basis; and

(3) Require information obtained in reports of survey and accreditation or certification letters to be public information.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, State Health Planning and Development Agency, and Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that home health agencies must be licensed at the federal and state levels. Furthermore, seventeen other states and the District of Columbia currently allow home health agencies to become accredited or certified for compliance with state licensing inspections through organizations recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but the State only allows this practice for hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. This measure will promote efficient use of limited state resources while maintaining high standards of care by aligning the accreditation or certification of state home health agencies with the practice used in those jurisdictions.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2272 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair