STAND. COM. REP. NO. 601

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 755

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 755 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISABILITY HEALTH DISPARITY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to submit a report focused on the health disparities experienced by individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities in the State to the Legislature prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025; and

 

     (2)  Appropriate $500,000 for the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to compile and submit the report.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Disability and Communication Access Board, Hawaii Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders FASD Action Group, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, and four individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.

 

     Your Committee finds that the core mission of public health, which is to improve the health of all populations, is increasingly framed in terms of health disparities or health inequities.  Health equity is achieved when all individuals are given the opportunity to optimize their health, and health inequities create disparities in length of life; quality of life; rates of disease, disability, and death; severity of disease; and access to treatment.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals with a disability face many challenges in achieving optimal health and accessing high-quality health care.  However, people with disabilities have largely been unrecognized as a population for public health attention.  The CDC also reports that as of 2019, an estimated one in four adults in Hawaii report having a disability, including impairments in mobility, cognition, hearing, vision, ability to live independently, and ability to selfcare.  This measure will help the State and lawmakers obtain the necessary information to assess the status of disabled individuals in Hawaii, determine if health inequity exists between the disabled and non-disabled populous, and if so, recommend measures that can be taken to prevent or mitigate the inequity.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting language that would have required the report to include population-level differences in the State between individuals with and without developmental or intellectual disabilities on health indicators and social determinants of health, including:

 

          (A)  Access to necessary health care;

 

          (B)  Access to preventive health care, including wellness programs and emotional support services;

 

          (C)  Health behaviors, including the percentage of individuals who engage in physical activities or smoke cigarettes;

 

          (D)  Health status and outcomes, including the percentage of individuals who are considered obese or diagnosed with chronic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases;

 

          (E)  Emergency preparedness, including evacuation planning and ability; and

 

          (F)  Health insurance coverage;

 

     (2)  Inserting language that requires the report to include  population-level differences in the State between individuals with and without developmental or intellectual disabilities on health indicators and social determinants of health, including:

 

          (A)  Prevalence of intellectual or developmental disabilities based on zip code;

 

          (B)  Ethnicity breakdown based on zip code; and

 

          (C)  Whether people with intellectual or developmental disabilities are having worse health outcomes than their typical non-disabled peers;

 

     (3)  Deleting language that would have required the report to include factors contributing to the population-level differences, including economic and social disadvantages and discrimination and a determination of the population-level differences and contributing factors that are preventable or avoidable; and

 

     (4)  Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

 

     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. 755, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 755, S.D. 1, 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,

 

 

 

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair