STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2697

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2093

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2093, 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 equalize the medicaid reimbursement rates for acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities.  This measure also makes an unspecified appropriation for increased medicaid reimbursements.  

 

     Written comments in opposition to this measure were submitted by the Department of Human Services.

 

     Your Committee finds that patients in need of long-term care must often wait for admission to long-term care facilities due to a shortage of available beds in these facilities.  As a result, these patients remain admitted at acute care facilities, despite no longer needing acute care services.  Your Committee finds that this practice creates a financial difficulty for acute care facilities because they must accept a medicaid reimbursement at a lower rate for long-term care, rather than the higher payment rate for acute care.  This measure will stabilize the reimbursement rate for acute care hospitals that must accommodate patients who no longer need acute care and are on a waiting list to be admitted to a long-term care facility.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

(1)  Clarifying that the reimbursements addressed in this measure are intended to be made to hospitals with patients occupying "acute care licensed beds";

 

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

 

(3)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the 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. 2093, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2093, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair