STAND. COM. REP. NO. 719

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1310

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1310, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTHCARE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to establish a region-specific federal, medical home health care demonstration project for the Waimanalo and Waianae areas on the island of Oahu.

 

     More specifically, this measure will provide culturally-sensitive and community-based services, including integrated behavioral services, which are vital to the populations they serve.  The Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center portion is funded solely by funds deposited into the general fund pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

 

     Your Committee received four written comments on the measure.  Copies of written comments submitted are available for review on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committee finds that this federal demonstration project will allow patients in Waimanalo and Waianae, two areas on the island of Oahu with underserved populations, to receive culturally-sensitive, community-based, and patient-centered services through the medical home health care project.  Your Committee believes that the demonstration project is both an effective way to use federal funds for services provided through alternative providers and a safety net for the State's most vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, blind, and disabled.

 

     Your Committee has amended the measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2049, to facilitate further discussion and by making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1310, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1310, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

____________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair