Report Title:

Long-term Care Commission

Description:

Establishes the temporary Long-term Care Commission within the Department of Health. Appropriates funds. Scheduled for repeal on December 31, 2009.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1356

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO LONG-TERM CARE.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the future of long-term care is one of the most critical health and fiscal issues facing Hawaii in the twenty-first century. The rapid growth of the elderly and disabled populations will result in extraordinary demands on long-term care financing and delivery of services.

The purpose of this Act is to create a temporary long-term care commission composed of a panel of experts who will prepare recommendations for the establishment of an integrated, cost-effective, and responsive long-term care delivery system to provide quality care to all of Hawaii's citizens that require long-term care services.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established a temporary Hawaii long-term care commission to be placed within the department of health for administrative purposes.

(b) The commission shall consist of fifteen members to be appointed by the governor as provided in section 26-34, except as provided in this subsection. The chairperson shall be appointed as provided in subsection (f). Seven of the remaining members shall be appointed from a list of twenty nominees submitted by the speaker of the house of representatives and seven members shall be appointed from a list of twenty nominees submitted by the president of the senate. The governor shall appoint members no later than October 1, 2005, who shall be subject to senate confirmation in the 2006 regular session. The governor shall appoint no less than one person from each of the categories under subsection (c)(1), and no less than two persons from each of the categories under subsection (c)(2). The director of human services and the director of health, or their respective designees, shall be ex-officio voting members of the commission. Until confirmation by the senate, the members appointed by the governor shall serve in an interim capacity. Heads of state agencies, department divisions, or members of state commissions are not prohibited from serving as members.

(c) The list of nominees submitted to the governor by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives under subsection (b) shall be comprised of:

(1) At least one person with background or experience from each of the following categories:

(A) Administrators of health plans, including prepaid health plans;

(B) Health care professionals such as physicians and nurses;

(C) County offices on aging, collectively;

(D) Hospital administrators;

(E) Institutional long-term care providers; and

(F) Community-based long-term care providers;

(2) At least two persons from each of the following categories:

(A) Adults sixty years of age or older who are care recipients or consumers of services; and

(B) Informal, unpaid family caregivers.

(d) The number of members necessary to constitute a quorum to do business shall consist of a majority of all members of the commission. When a quorum is in attendance, the concurrence of a majority of the members shall make any action of the commission valid.

(e) Members of the commission, except the chairperson, shall not receive compensation for their services, but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, incurred in the performance of their duties under this Act.

(f) The governor shall appoint a part-time chairperson to the commission. The chairperson shall be compensated at a salary of $42,651 and shall receive all benefits entitled to a public employee. The chairperson may employ adequate staffing, without regard to chapters 76 and 77, necessary for the performance of the commission's functions. The chairperson may determine the compensation of employees.

(g) The commission may contract for consultation services without regard to chapter 103D.

(h) The Hawaii long-term care commission shall make findings and recommendations relating to:

(1) Developing and prioritizing goals for a long-term care program for Hawaii including but not limited to:

(A) Development of coordinated policies and programs among executive departments and agencies;

(B) Facilitation of an adequate amount of home- and community-based services and minimally sufficient institutional services for long-term care;

(C) Maximization of both public and private funds for long-term care;

(D) Assurance of accessibility to appropriate services in the least restrictive environment;

(E) Assurance of quality care for persons receiving long-term care;

(F) Treatment of chronic disabilities to optimize individual function, and to assure dignity and well-being;

(G) Promotion of consumer choice as much as possible;

(H) Developing a system of support for family members as the primary providers of long-term care;

(I) Increasing the sense of personal responsibility and awareness of Hawaii's seniors and the young adult population regarding their future long-term care needs; and

(J) Development of innovative programs that facilitate the delivery of integrated care and the long-term care goals of the State;

(2) Assessing the long-term care and family caregiver needs of the state's population; establishment of a system of quality assurance for long-term care; delineation of different levels of long-term care; and standardization of:

(A) Pertinent terminology in the administrative rules of the various departments; and

(B) Assessing instruments of eligibility for different levels of long-term care;

(3) Reviewing administrative rules of the various executive departments to achieve standardization consistent with the State's goals and to achieve integration to reduce fragmentation and achieve cost-effectiveness;

(4) Reducing costs for operating the commission without compromising the breadth and depth of the work;

(5) Establishment and expansion of a single-point entry system, with a standardized pre-admission screening for the determination of the appropriate level and setting of care; determining where and how the system should be administered;

(6) Establishment of a comprehensive assessment planning and management system to encourage home and community oriented services, including support for family caregivers;

(7) Financing alternatives for a long-term care system in this state including but not limited to participation in any manner by the public and private sectors and insurance companies, including tax incentives to build long-term care facilities and to support home-based care;

(8) Workforce requirements of the long-term care industry with particular attention to paraprofessional workers; and

(9) Developing a statewide support system for families and other informal, unpaid caregivers as the primary providers of long-term care.

In determining its findings and recommendations, the commission shall be guided by the principles of creating a high quality, integrated, and cost-effective long-term care system, including the protection of clients, emphasis on the optimal use of public funds in a reasonable manner, and support for families as primary providers of long-term care.

SECTION 3. The Hawaii long-term care commission shall report to the legislature on the status of its progress toward its objectives and interim findings and recommendations as follows:

(1) The first report shall be submitted no later than twenty days prior to the regular session of 2007 and shall relate to the objectives in subsections (h)(1), (h)(2), (h)(3), and (h)(4) under section 2 of this Act;

(2) The second report shall be submitted to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the regular session of 2008 and shall relate to the objectives in subsections (h)(5) and (h)(6) under section 2 of this Act; and

(3) The third report shall be submitted to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the regular session of 2009 and shall relate to the objectives in subsections (h)(7), (h)(8), and (h)(9) under section 2 of this Act, and shall include a final report on all of the objectives.

Each report shall contain an explanation of the impact of relevant sources of funding on the recommendation.

SECTION 4. For purposes of section 3 of this Act, the commission shall:

(1) Review relevant past state studies and reports including the Olmstead report, long-term care financing reports (Care Plus), and the Choices project, and the experience of other states; and

(2) Serve as a centralized data base for collecting state demographic data on aging and long-term care to facilitate the ongoing monitoring of the state's long-term care system by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; provided that the university of Hawaii center on the family and the department of business, economic development, and tourism shall assist the commission upon request in obtaining the data; and provided further that upon repeal of this Act, the database shall be transferred to the university of Hawaii center on the family.

SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005-2006 and the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for the expenses of the Hawaii long-term care commission, including the contracting of consultation services.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of health for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2005, and shall be repealed on December 31, 2009.

INTRODUCED BY:

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