Report Title:

Caregiving; Cash and Counseling Pilot Program

 

Description:

Requires the department of human services to develop and implement a "cash and counseling" pilot program and appropriates funds for that purpose.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

828

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO SOCIAL SERVICES.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that Cash and Counseling is a national program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; and the Administration on Aging.  Under the program, recipients of medicaid personal care services or home- and community-based services receive a flexible monthly allowance and decide who to hire and what services they want to receive.

     The program's innovative approach enables participants to direct and manage their personal assistance services according to their own specific needs.  Participants receive counseling and fiscal assistance to help them manage their allowance and responsibilities.  Participants can choose a family member or friend, in lieu of an agency worker, to provide the services.  This enables family caregivers to receive a level of financial recognition and support for their efforts and offsets some of the financial sacrifices that family caregivers make to care for loved ones.

     The purpose of this Act is to require the department of human services to develop and implement a cash and counseling pilot program.

     SECTION 2.  (a)  The department of human services shall develop and implement a cash and counseling pilot program that:

     (1)  Provides a flexible monthly allowance to recipients of medicaid personal care services or home- and community-based services;

     (2)  Enables participants to make choices about the personal care services or home- and community-based services they receive; and

     (3)  Provides counseling and fiscal assistance to participants to help them manage their allowance and responsibilities.

     (b)  For purposes of this section, "personal care services" means services to assist in bathing, dressing, and feeding; performance of toilet and personal hygiene functions; assistance with medications that are ordinarily self-administered; assistance with mobility and transfer activities; and other household tasks, including chores services, which are related to a medical need.

     (c)  The department of human services shall:

     (1)  Develop the program in consultation with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Administration on Aging, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation;

     (2)  Request any federal funding that may be available for the program; and

     (3)  Ensure state compliance with federal regulations, including any necessary approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

     SECTION 3.  The department of human services shall submit an interim report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2008 regular session, and shall submit a final report, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 regular session.

     SECTION 4.  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 2007-2008, and the same sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009, for the department of human services to develop and implement a cash and counseling pilot program.

     SECTION 5.  The sums appropriated in section 4 shall be expended by the department of human services for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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