Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 642 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to establish a public-private partnership that allows the Public Employees Health Fund to share in the cost of a single health benefit plan for employees with dual health plan coverage.

Presently, the health fund estimates that 7,337 public employees have dual medical coverage where a public employee and the employee's spouse are covered by the health fund and the employee's spouse is additionally insured by a private sector employer. This situation results in the private sector spouse being covered by both the public and private employers.

This bill would reduce health fund costs by establishing a public-private partnership that would eliminate this dual coverage situation and allow the health fund to share the cost for a single medical plan for such public employees and their spouse.

Your Committee received testimony from the Department of Budget and Finance. Testimony was also received from the Hawaii Government Employees' Association and the United Public Workers who were opposed to the bill.

Your Committee has amended the bill by changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, and by making technical amendments that have no substantive effect.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 642, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 642, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.