STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1119-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2608

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 2608, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITALS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to:

(1) Extend the sunset date of the payment methodology to critical access hospitals using Medicare reasonable cost principles to June 30, 2006; and

(2) Make permanent the exemption of critical access hospitals from Medicaid reimbursement equity by repealing the sunset date of the Act in which these provisions were first adopted.

The Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, Kauai Region of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO, submitted testimony in support of this measure. The Department of Human Services (DHS) supported this measure with amendments.

 

Your Committee notes the concerns raised by DHS to change the effective date from June 30, 2004, to June 30, 2006, in S.B. No. 2929, S.D. 1, relating to Medicaid reimbursement, to ensure consistency and eliminate redundancy between S.B. No. 2929, S.D. 1, and this bill.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2608, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

 

____________________________

DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair