STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2891

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 2053

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 2053, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGING,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish and appropriate funds out of the trauma system special fund for a Fall Prevention and Early Detection Coordinator position within the Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention System Branch of the Department of Health.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Executive Office on Aging, Hawaii Primary Care Association, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142 Hawaii, Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans, Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, Zonta Club of Hilo, Child and Family Service, and two individuals.

 

     Your Committees find that falls and fall-related injuries among older adults impose an enormous burden on individuals, society, and the State's health care system.  Among the elderly in Hawaii, falls are the leading cause of fatal injuries, hospitalizations, and injuries needing emergency medical services among adults sixty-five years of age and older.  Over half of adults hospitalized from a fall are discharged to a nursing facility or rehabilitation center, and many never regain full independence.  Hospital costs associated with fall-related injuries average over $65,000,000 per year.  Your Committees find that falls can be prevented and a statewide approach is needed to address this significant public health issue, as the number of older adults is expected to increase over the next twenty years to more than eighteen percent of the State's population.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2053, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2053, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Health,

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair