Bill Text: HI HB669 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Community Health Centers; Reimbursement for Voluntary Medical Services; Federal Stimulus Funds
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-01-24 - (H) Referred to HLT, FIN, referral sheet 1 [HB669 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2011-HB669-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
669 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to health.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that due to a shortage of medical professionals in general and on the neighbor islands in particular, medically underserved individuals in Hawaii have limited access to necessary health care. Supplementing the health services provided by the facilities of the five regional health systems within the Hawaii health systems corporation, community health centers or federally qualified health centers provide health care to underserved populations ‑‑ mostly the medically uninsured and underinsured. Some of these health centers are located in rural areas, especially on the neighbor islands. This problem of lack of access to health care is partially alleviated by the voluntary and sporadic visits of medical professionals who travel and rent space at their own expense to operate short-term ‑‑ often one- or two-day clinics ‑‑ in underserved areas. The legislature finds that reimbursement of office rental and air travel expenses incurred by these medical professionals is both right and necessary to help provide the medically uninsured and underinsured population with continued access to health care.
The legislature also finds that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has made available a total of $787,000,000,000 in federal stimulus funding to the states. According to recovery.gov, the United States government's official website that tracks data related to the federal stimulus funding, as of December 7, 2010, Hawaii has been awarded $1,567,879,775, of which $431,263,322 has been received.
One of the purposes of the federal stimulus funding is to stabilize and enhance the capacity of community health centers at a time when more uninsured and underinsured people are increasing demand for health care services and fewer public and private resources are available to support this surge. Federal stimulus funds are also aimed at allowing the health centers to maintain or increase clinical, support, and administrative staff. The total of federal stimulus funding awarded to community health centers to meet increased demand for services was $2,724,725, of which $1,868,623 had been expended as of June 30, 2010.
Federal stimulus funding has also been awarded to community health centers for building renovation, construction, health information technology, or other capital equipment under capital improvement program grants. A total of $7,318,120 for such capital improvement has been awarded to the State, of which $2,408,997 had been expended as of June 30, 2010.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require community health centers or federally qualified health centers to develop a program, using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 stimulus funds, to provide reimbursement to medical professionals who travel and rent space at their own expense to operate short-term voluntary clinics in underserved areas.
SECTION 2. Community health center or federally qualified health center; reimbursement; report. (a) Each community health center or federally qualified health center in the State that receives federal stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 shall develop a program to provide reimbursement to medical professionals who travel and rent space at their own expense to operate short-term voluntary clinics in an underserved area in which the center is located; provided that the provision of health care services by these medical professionals is consistent with the center's own overall program to provide health care services to uninsured and underinsured individuals. If practicable, the community health center or federally qualified health center shall provide partial in-kind reimbursement by providing office or clinic space rent-free.
(b) Each community health center or federally qualified health center shall provide a brief summary report to the legislature no later than December 31 of each year regarding any medical professionals who provided voluntary short-term health care within the center's jurisdiction, the type of medical service provided, and the amount of any reimbursement the center provided to these medical professionals under subsection (a) during the previous calendar year.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Community Health Centers; Reimbursement for Voluntary Medical Services; Federal Stimulus Funds
Description:
Requires each community health center or federally qualified health center that receives federal stimulus funding to develop a program to provide reimbursement to medical professionals who travel at their own expense to operate short-term voluntary clinics in underserved areas.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
