Bill Text: HI HCR123 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Legislative Reference Bureau To Conduct A Study Of The Necessity For Hawaii's Certificate Of Need Program Under Chapter 323d, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-14 - Referred to HHH, CPC, referral sheet 27 [HCR123 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-HCR123-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	123
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the legislative reference bureau to conduct a study of the necessity for Hawaii's certificate of need program under chapter 323D, Hawaii revised statutes.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, Certificate of Need programs are state­level regulatory programs that require approval from a state health planning agency for construction, expansion, and major capital expenditures by health care facilities and services; and

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii's Certificate of Need law, codified as part V of chapter 323D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, was established in 1975 in response to the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974 (NHPRDA), which conditioned the award of federal public health service grants upon a state's adoption of such regulatory measures; and

 

WHEREAS, in 1987, the federal mandate and funding provisions of NHPRDA were repealed; and

 

WHEREAS, since the repeal of NHPRDA, twelve states have fully repealed their Certificate of Need programs or allowed their programs to expire, while several other states have narrowed the application of their Certificate of Need laws to only certain types of facilities; and

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii's law requires the State Health Planning and Development Agency to approve a Certificate of Need for the construction, expansion, alteration, conversion, development, initiation, or modification of all health care facilities or health care services in the State; and

 

WHEREAS, like many other states' Certificate of Need laws, Hawaii's Certificate of Need law is intended to provide a coordinated system that links statewide planning for health services with facilities development; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's Certificate of Need program, like other programs nationwide, has faced criticism in several areas, including that the program:

 

     (1)  Hampers the efficient performance of health care markets by creating barriers to entry and expansion, restricting free and open competition, and limiting consumer choice, resulting in higher prices;

 

     (2)  Hampers innovation and improvements in the delivery of better health care by limiting competition;

 

     (3)  Is inconsistently administered;

 

     (4)  Fails to meet its objective of controlling health care costs; and

 

     (5)  Specifically limits rural hospitals and alternatives for neighbor island residents; and

 

     WHEREAS, national health care reform and other changes taking place in the health care marketplace make it appropriate to examine the relevancy of Hawaii's Certificate of Need program and its effects on health care access, quality, and costs; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study of the necessity for Hawaii's Certificate of Need program under chapter 323D, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study is requested to examine:

 

     (1)  The role of the Certificate of Need program in Hawaii;

 

     (2)  Whether certain facilities, types of facilities, or services should be exempt from the Certificate of Need program;

 

     (3)  Whether modifications made to the Certificate of Need program in other states may be beneficial to implement in Hawaii; and

 

     (4)  Whether reducing or eliminating Certificate of Need requirements may improve health care access on neighbor island and for vulnerable populations; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations regarding the Certificate of Need program, including appropriate recommendations to eliminate or modify the existing Certificate of Need program and 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 Director of Health, Administrator of the State Health Planning and Development Agency, and Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

LRB; Study; Certificate of Need; State Health Planning and Development Agency; Health Care