Bill Text: HI SCR148 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Community Hospitals; Community Health Centers; Collaboration; Rural Hospitals; Federally Qualified Health Centers

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-16 - (S) Referred to HTH, WAM. [SCR148 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-SCR148-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	148
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the hawaii health systems corporation to PROMOTE collaboration Between community hospitals and community health centers and develop a plan to have certain rural hospitals DESIGNATED as federally qualified health centers.

 

 

     WHEREAS, rural communities in Hawaii are faced with many of the same health care issues and challenges that are confronting the rest of the nation, including burdensome health care costs, large numbers of uninsured and underinsured persons, and an overextended health care structure; and

 

     WHEREAS, many rural hospitals in Hawaii do not have the resources to invest in critical plant and technological upgrades; and

 

     WHEREAS, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates remain generally below the actual costs of services provided, putting stress on providers that depend on reimbursements from public programs; and

 

     WHEREAS, as stated in the federal Health Resources and Service Administration policy, "The goal of collaboration is to utilize the strengths of all involved organizations to best meet the overall health care needs of the area's underserved population"; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 323F-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, states, "Each regional system board and each community hospital under the jurisdiction of the corporation shall collaborate with community health centers within their respective geographic jurisdictions to maximize funding from the state and federal governments to: 

 

     (1)  Maximize reimbursement for health care services provided;

 

     (2)  Acquire funds for capital investment;

 

     (3)  Provide expanded hours of service; and

 

     (4)  Ensure the provision of the appropriate level of care to the community served by each community health center"; and

 

     WHEREAS, a collaboration between community hospitals and community health centers will help rural communities in Hawaii by improving and expanding access to health care, encouraging continuing partnerships with other health care organizations, and ensuring that services, including primary, preventive, and enabling services, are appropriately available to rural patients; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are twenty-two hospitals in Hawaii, thirteen of which are located in rural areas; two rural health clinics; and fourteen federally qualified health centers that provide services at thirty-seven sites in the State of Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii has a robust network of federally qualified health centers that provide quality health care to more than one hundred thousand uninsured persons, tailor their services to fit the special needs and priorities of the community, and offer services such as transportation, case management, and health education that help patients access health care; and

 

     WHEREAS, having certain rural hospitals meet the requirements of a federally qualified health center will expand the focus on primary care and prevention, capture the cost-based reimbursement for all services provided to Medicaid patients, and make such facilities eligible for free malpractice coverage under the Federal Tort Claims Act; and

 

     WHEREAS, a plan to have certain rural hospitals, including Hale Ho‘ola Hamakua, Ka‘u Hospital, Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital, Kohala Hospital, Kula Hospital, Lanai Community Hospital, and Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital, recognized as federally qualified health centers within their respective geographic jurisdictions needs to be developed in order to design a more cost-effective care plan for all of the State's residents in rural settings; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation is requested to implement the provisions of section 323F-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, regarding the collaboration of community hospitals and community health centers; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation is requested to develop a plan for certain rural hospitals, including Hale Ho‘ola Hamakua, Ka‘u Hospital, Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital, Kohala Hospital, Kula Hospital, Lanai Community Hospital, and Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital, to be recognized as federally qualified health centers; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation is requested to report on its progress in promoting collaboration between community hospitals and community health centers and submit its plan for the designation of certain hospitals as federally qualified health centers to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2013; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and the members of the Hawaii Health Authority.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Community Hospitals; Community Health Centers; Collaboration; Rural Hospitals; Federally Qualified Health Centers