Bill Text: HI SB2180 | 2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Chore Services.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-15 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [SB2180 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2180-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2180 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO CHORE SERVICES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 346-64.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§346-64.5[]] Eligibility
for chore services. (a) An applicant for chore services shall be
eligible when the applicant meets program requirements for chore services and
income eligibility standards as established by the department of human services. Income eligibility standards shall include
individuals who have been found eligible for medical assistance under the
department's medicaid program.
(b) Program requirements to determine an
applicant's eligibility for chore services pursuant to subsection (a) shall
include an assessment of whether the applicant has a family member who is
capable of providing chore services and the types and extent of chore services
the family member is capable of providing for the applicant. The assessment shall include a determination
of whether the family member has:
(1) The physical and mental ability to
perform each type of chore service necessary for the applicant, which shall be
certified by a physician licensed pursuant to chapter 453 who has examined the
family member; and
(2) Sufficient time to perform necessary
chore services for the applicant, which shall be determined by an independent
third party who is not an employee or agent of an insurance company or the department.
[(b)]
(c) For the purposes of this
section[, "chore]:
"Chore services" means essential housecleaning and related activities such as marketing, cooking, and cleaning.
"Family member" means an
applicant's spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, or any individual
related by blood, marriage, adoption, or legal guardianship, or as reciprocal
beneficiaries, who resides in the same household of the applicant."
SECTION 2. (a) To improve access for disabled persons seeking chore services, the department of human services shall:
(1) Improve and streamline the application and approval process for "DHS form 1147" by eliminating the rating and ranking of a disabled applicant's disability for purposes of qualifying to receive chore services. Application approval shall not consider the quantity of services needed or the severity of the applicant's disability to determine priority of an individual's application;
(2) Pursue all available federal funding sources to maximize state program availability and reimbursement for chore services;
(3) Consider establishment of a dependent care loan program that would loan funds to qualified individuals to pay for chore service expenses, who could then claim a tax credit that, once refunded, would enable them to repay the department for the dependent care loan;
(4) Expand the first to work program to include training and assistance to help unemployed individuals sign up to become freelance chore services workers, which shall include:
(A) Assisting in self-employment processes for applicants to become simple sole proprietors to serve as chore service workers; and
(B) Working with the department of labor and industrial relations to publish a list of freelance chore service workers' contact information, with ratings submitted by chore service clients, to be posted on the department of labor and industrial relations' website and the department of human services' MedQUEST website.
(b) The department of human services shall 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 2025, concerning the status of items specified in subsection (a).
SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on December 31, 2050; provided that section 1 of this Act shall take effect upon approval by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Report Title:
DHS; Chore Services; Assessment; Program Requirements; Report
Description:
Requires the Department of Human Services' program requirements for chore services to include an assessment of whether the applicant has a family member who is available and capable of providing necessary chore services for the applicant. Requires the Department of Human Services to improve access for disabled persons seeking chore services by taking certain actions and submitting a report to the Legislature. Takes effect 12/31/2050. (SD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
