Report Title:
Adoption-Special Needs Children; Federal SSI for Disabled Children; Medicare Advocacy Project
Description:
Provides legal assistance and funding for certain children with special needs, disabled children, and the elderly. (HB1272 HD2)
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1272 |
TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003 |
H.D. 2 |
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
||
|
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to ADVOCACY FOR human services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that federal moneys can be a significant source of funding to support Hawaii's health and human services programs but, unfortunately, these federal funds have not been maximized for a variety of reasons, thus causing a direct and unnecessary drain on Hawaii's taxpayers. For example, federal medicare benefits for Hawaii's individuals, who require home health care services or maintenance in a skilled nursing facility, have not been maximized.
The legislature further finds that according to the Health Care Financing Administration (known as The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as of July 1, 2001) data for 1997, only five hundred seventy-one per one thousand of Hawaii's elderly medicare beneficiaries received home health care and skilled nursing care compared to nine hundred seventeen in Montana, nine hundred thirty in Idaho, and nine hundred forty in New Hampshire -- all states with similar populations.
The legislature further finds that in terms of medicare home health care and skilled nursing facility care, Hawaii expended the lowest percentage of federal medicare dollars at only $30,300,000, while Montana expended $64,300,000, Idaho expended $106,000,000, and New Hampshire expended $87,500,000.
The legislature further finds that for fiscal years l996 to 2000, the State of Hawaii reported on its quarterly federal health care financing agency report that its third party liability effort with respect to medicare cost avoidance resulted in $34,630,090, while Montana's third party liability effort resulted in $209,511,516; Idaho's third party liability effort resulted in $409,834,706; and New Hampshire's third party liability effort resulted in $162,599,344.
Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to direct the department of human services to contract with a statewide nonprofit legal services provider to implement a two-year pilot project to maximize collections and cost avoidance for the federal medicare program. The goal of this project is to provide the State with a $1,500,000 cost savings through cost avoidance and collection efforts.
SECTION 2. The department of human services shall make available to a nonprofit legal services provider all information required to adequately identify claims for dually eligible medicare and medicaid recipients.
SECTION 3. The department of human services shall contract for legal services to maximize collection from the federal medicare program; provided that payment to the contractor shall be on a contingency fee basis where the contractor is paid one-third of the funds received by the department of human service from the medicare program as a result of the contract.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.