SR 19: REQUESTING THE TAX REVIEW COMMISSION TO IDENTIFY POSSIBLE MEANS BY WHICH THE HAWAII LONG-TERM CARE FINANCING PROGRAM CAN BE IMPLEMENTED.

SENATE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE TAX REVIEW COMMISSION TO IDENTIFY POSSIBLE MEANS BY WHICH THE HAWAII LONG-TERM CARE FINANCING PROGRAM CAN BE IMPLEMENTED.

     WHEREAS, the State passed Act 245, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002 (Act 245), on July 1, 2002, creating the Hawaii Long-Term Care Financing Program (LTC Financing Program); and

     WHEREAS, the LTC Financing Program is intended to provide universal and affordable long-term care for all eligible State residents regardless of income; and

     WHEREAS, the LTC Financing Program benefits are intended to be primary over long-term care benefits from private insurance companies and Medicaid; and

     WHEREAS, Act 245, codified at chapter 346C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, only established a framework for the LTC Financing Program and therefore, the details of the program, including how to pay for it, remain undetermined; and

     WHEREAS, in 2003, the Legislature passed S.B. No. 1088, S.D. 2, H.D.2, C.D. 1 (2003), which proposed to establish a Long-Term Care Income Tax Credit for amounts paid for purchase of long-term care insurance but was vetoed by the Governor; and

     WHEREAS, the Tax Review Commission is scheduled to convene in 2025 pursuant to Chapter 232E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, with the purpose of conducting a systematic review of the State's tax structure; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Tax Review Commission is requested to identify possible means by which the Hawaii Long-Term Care Financing Program can be implemented, including consideration of a revised version of the Long-Term Care Income Tax Credit proposed in S.B. No. 1088, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, C.D. 1 (2003) and the findings listed in Financing Long Term Care: A Report to the Hawaii State Legislature, Executive Office on Aging, Office of the Governor, July 1991; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Tax Review Commission is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2026; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report to the Legislature is requested to include the possible implementations, financing mechanisms, and costs that may be associated with implementing and administering the Long-Term Care Financing Program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Budget and Finance, Director of Taxation, and Chairperson of the Tax Review Commission.

Report Title: 

Tax Review Commission; Long-Term Care; Financing Program; Medicaid; Insurance

SENATE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE TAX REVIEW COMMISSION TO IDENTIFY POSSIBLE MEANS BY WHICH THE HAWAII LONG-TERM CARE FINANCING PROGRAM CAN BE IMPLEMENTED.

     WHEREAS, the State passed Act 245, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002 (Act 245), on July 1, 2002, creating the Hawaii Long-Term Care Financing Program (LTC Financing Program); and

     WHEREAS, the LTC Financing Program is intended to provide universal and affordable long-term care for all eligible State residents regardless of income; and

     WHEREAS, the LTC Financing Program benefits are intended to be primary over long-term care benefits from private insurance companies and Medicaid; and

     WHEREAS, Act 245, codified at chapter 346C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, only established a framework for the LTC Financing Program and therefore, the details of the program, including how to pay for it, remain undetermined; and

     WHEREAS, in 2003, the Legislature passed S.B. No. 1088, S.D. 2, H.D.2, C.D. 1 (2003), which proposed to establish a Long-Term Care Income Tax Credit for amounts paid for purchase of long-term care insurance but was vetoed by the Governor; and

     WHEREAS, the Tax Review Commission is scheduled to convene in 2025 pursuant to Chapter 232E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, with the purpose of conducting a systematic review of the State's tax structure; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Tax Review Commission is requested to identify possible means by which the Hawaii Long-Term Care Financing Program can be implemented, including consideration of a revised version of the Long-Term Care Income Tax Credit proposed in S.B. No. 1088, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, C.D. 1 (2003); and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Tax Review Commission is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2026; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report to the Legislature is requested to include the possible implementations, financing mechanisms, and costs that may be associated with implementing and administering the Long-Term Care Financing Program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Budget and Finance, Director of Taxation, and Chairperson of the Tax Review Commission.

Report Title: 

Tax Review Commission; Long-Term Care; Financing Program; Medicaid; Insurance

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1587

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 19

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.R. No. 19 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE TAX REVIEW COMMISSION TO IDENTIFY POSSIBLE MEANS BY WHICH THE HAWAII LONG-TERM CARE FINANCING PROGRAM CAN BE IMPLEMENTED,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Tax Review Commission to identify possible means by which the Hawaii Long-Term Care Financing Program can be implemented.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Executive Office on Aging and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that the State's aging population is expected to increase significantly, with projections that one in four residents will be sixty-five years or older by 2035, and as people age, they will need additional health care services to help them with activities of daily living.  Your Committee further finds that because increasing numbers of the State's residents will need long-term care services, there is a compelling need to create an affordable method of financing those services.  Your Committee notes that Act 245, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002 (Act 245) established the Hawaii Long-Term Care Financing Program (LTC Financing Program) to provide universal and affordable long‑term care for all eligible State residents regardless of income.  However, Act 245, codified at chapter 346C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, only established a framework for the LTC Financing Program and therefore, the details of the program, including how to pay for it, remain undetermined.  Accordingly, this measure initiates the analysis of possible implementations of the Hawaii Long-Term Care Financing Program as an affordable financing mechanism for long-term care services for the State's increasing elderly population.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting language to request the Tax Review Commission to consider the findings listed in Financing Long Term Care: A Report to the Hawaii State Legislature, Executive Office on Aging, Office of the Governor, July 1991, in their identification of possible means by which the Hawaii Long-Term Care Financing Program can be implemented.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 19, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 19, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,