Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 68 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to:

(2) Appropriate funds for the program.

The Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, HMSA, American Cancer Society, St. Francis Medical Center, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Kalihi Palama Health Center, Hawaii Primary Care Association, Hawaii Society of Clinical Oncology, Hawaii Women Lawyers, Papa Ola Lokahi, Department of Human Services, breast cancer survivors, and concerned physicians and citizens submitted testimony in support of this measure.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii has one of the highest rates in the nation of mortality for women with breast cancer. Moreover, this rate differs among the diverse ethnic group in the State, with women of Hawaiian ancestry having a higher than average rate of new breast cancer cases.

Your Committees were also informed that under federal law, Medicaid coverage for legal immigrants is prohibited for the first five years of their United States residency. Thus, many women in Hawaii who are legal immigrants are not able to take advantage of the Hawaii Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program.

Moreover, many women in Hawaii do not have medical insurance or are not insured for cancer treatment. Although they may be able to receive free breast cancer screening through the breast cancer control program, many opt not to receive treatment to avoid financial and emotional hardship on their families.

Your Committees felt that it is unconscionable to have a screening program for women to be diagnosed but no means to be treated. Through early intervention and treatment, overall costs for care would diminish since women would not wait to seek treatment when the disease was more advanced.

This measure is a work in progress. Since its early stages, the measure has developed and some areas of concern have arisen. Therefore, your Committees have amended the measure by:

(3) Adding an additional year to the program; and

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 68, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 68, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.