STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1675

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.C.R. No. 104

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 104, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING AN AUDIT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Auditor to have an audit conducted of the Department of Human Services, including its Med-QUEST Division and the Kuahale On-Line Eligibility Assistance (KOLEA) System, the eligibility determination system of the Division.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services.

 

Your Committee finds that KOLEA is the Department of Human Services' updated Medicaid integrated eligibility system for the Med-QUEST Division.  KOLEA replaces a very old eligibility system and is intended to advance Hawaii's Medicaid system by offering applicants the option to submit applications online.  Your Committee notes that KOLEA was built with ninety percent federal funding.  Although KOLEA had significant technical difficulties, many of the difficulties were resolved and KOLEA processed approximately 330,000 Medicaid renewals and applications in its first year of operation.  Your Committee further finds that the Legislature is interested in whether public funds were used in an effective and efficient manner, in fulfillment of the intended objectives.  Therefore, your Committee requests an audit to examine the procurement process of KOLEA, examine whether the system met its objectives, and make recommendations for improving the Department's large information technology systems.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting language requesting the Department of the Attorney General to conduct the audit;

 

     (2)  Inserting a provision indicating that the Department of Human Services will pay up to $100,000 for the audit; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 104, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 104, H.D. 2, S.D. 1.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair