STAND. COM. REP. NO. 707

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 358

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 358, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require that the Department of Health post on its website electronic copies of reports of its inspections of state-licensed care facilities.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities; ILWU Local 142, and one individual.  Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Adult Foster Home Association and one individual.  The Healthcare Association of Hawaii submitted written comments on this measure.

 

     Your Committee finds that requiring the Department of Health to post state-licensed care facility inspection reports on its website will allow the public to better assess a facility's condition and quality of care, and enable families and individuals to make more informed decisions about providers of care services.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

(1)  Clarifying that reports beginning with inspections occurring on January 1, 2015, shall be posted on the Department of Health's website;

 

(2)  Requiring the Department of Health to post each report within five working days of the inspection's conclusion;

 

(3)  Including an appropriation section that appropriates unspecified sums for the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium for computer equipment, website and database development, and staff support, including one full-time equivalent position;

 

(4)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion on the measure; and

 

(5)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, 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. 358, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 358, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair