Bill Text: HI HR98 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Department of Health; Home Care Agencies; Licensing Fees

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-04-03 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HR98 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-HR98-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	98
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Urging the department of health to refrain from charging licensing fees TO home care agencies.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, home care agencies represent a critical sector of Hawaii's health care industry; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 321-14.8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, enacted by Act 21, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, requires the Department of Health to adopt rules for the licensure of home care agencies; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is expected that the Department of Health will impose a licensing fee on home care agencies to fund the administrative costs associated with home care licensing requirements; and

 

     WHEREAS, licensing fees for home care agencies vary widely from state to state, with some states not charging for license applications and others charging thousands of dollars regardless of the number of patients served; and

 

     WHEREAS, licensing fees in Hawaii could reach thousands of dollars and create a significant barrier for any individual desiring to enter into the selfless field of home care; and

 

     WHEREAS, a licensing fee barrier to entering the home care field would limit the number of available home care agencies and harm the very people the licensing requirements were enacted to protect; and

 

     WHEREAS, any licensing fee would simply be passed to the home care patients and, since many home care patients receive government assistance to fund their care, any licensing fee would just result in transferring money from one government agency to another; and

 

     WHEREAS, if home care agencies are forced out of business, their patients will go to other forms of health care providers, and, in turn, strain the State's capacity to provide quality health care; and

 

     WHEREAS, many community organizations, such as the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, have spoken against the potentially devastating effects of a licensing fee on a disproportionately large number of existing home care agencies; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, that the Department of Health is urged to refrain from charging licensing fees to home care agencies, even if authorized by law to charge such a fee; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Health; Home Care Agencies; Licensing Fees