HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

120

THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the department of human services to CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO EXPLORE CREATION OF a sustainability fund for the COMMUNITY CARE FOSTER FAMILY HOME AND EXPANDED ADULT RESIDENTIAL CARE HOME programs.

 

 


     WHEREAS, the pilot Community Care Foster Family Home (CCFFH) program was started in 1979 by The Queen's Medical Center, where it began receiving Medicaid funding under a federal Medicaid waiver in 1984, initially under the direction of the Department of Human Services and is presently situated in the Department of Health; and

 

     WHEREAS, the CCFFH program is currently serving approximately three thousand patients, with the potential for even greater capacity; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 1984 CCFFH federal Medicaid waiver was approved based on its success as a high-quality alternative to nursing home placement for Medicaid patients that costs two-thirds or less than the cost of placement in a nursing home; and

 

     WHEREAS, the level of CCFFH reimbursement has not kept pace with that two-thirds target ratio, resulting in a 2020 reimbursement rate to CCFFH providers that is approximately one-sixth the rate of nursing home placements; and

 

     WHEREAS, nursing facilities in the State do not have enough beds to accommodate patients requiring the level of care provided in nursing facilities, and the CCFFH and Expanded Adult Residential Care Home (E-ARCH) programs grant patients additional options to receive adequate care; and

 

     WHEREAS, the CCFFH and E-ARCH programs allow reduction of hospital stays by patients requiring nursing home level of care and provide relief to families caring for a family member requiring nursing home level of care, which thereby leads to a reduction of morbidity and mortality in patients requiring nursing home level of care; and

 

     WHEREAS, although the CCFFH and E-ARCH programs provide the same level of care for patients at nursing facilities, unlike the sustainability fund established for nursing facilities, there is no similar fund directly related to CCFFH and E-ARCH; and

 

     WHEREAS, establishing a CCFFH and E-ARCH sustainability fund will provide an affordable system for long-term care for patients outside of nursing facilities; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Human Services is requested to convene a working group to explore creation of a sustainability fund for the Community Care Foster Family Home and Expanded Adult Residential Care Home programs; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the working group is urged to consist of:

 

     (1)  One member of the Senate, to be appointed by the President of the Senate;

 

     (2)  One member of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

 

     (3)  One representative from the Executive Office on Aging;

 

     (4)  One representative from the Healthcare Association of Hawaii;

 

     (5)  One representative from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Hawaii;

 

     (6)  One representative from the Community Care Foster Family Home; and

 

     (7)  One representative from the Expanded Adult Residential Care Home program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Director of Human Services.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Human Services; CCFFH and E-ARCH; Sustainability Fund