HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

92

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the department of labor and industrial relations, in conjunction with hawaii's health plans, to explore options for providing medical savings accounts and high deductible health plans to hawaii's businesses under hawaii's prepaid health care act.

 

 

WHEREAS, the cost of medical care in Hawaii and across the

nation has been increasing at an alarming rate; and

WHEREAS, the State continues to endure obstacles in the growth of the economy, and the rising cost of health care has had a severe impact on Hawaii’s small business community; and

WHEREAS, the number of small businesses providing health care coverage to their employees is in jeopardy due to these increased costs; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii’s Prepaid Health Care Act (PHCA) is unique in the United States and serves as the cornerstone of health care access in Hawaii, by providing the vast majority of Hawaii employees with health plan coverage through a public/private approach and is instrumental in making Hawaii one of the more successful states in ensuring that its citizens have health care coverage; and

WHEREAS, PHCA requires that qualified prepaid health plans must provide for health care benefits as defined in the law and must be equal to, or medically reasonably substitutable for, the benefits provided by prepaid health plans of the same type which have the largest number of subscribers in the State; and

WHEREAS, however, both state and federal laws have required numerous mandated benefits in addition to the original basic benefits established by PHCA, further increasing costs to businesses; and

WHEREAS, there is a need to explore all available options to maintain the affordability and accessibility of Hawaii’s health plans; and

WHEREAS, there may be opportunities within the framework of PHCA to expand benefit options such as medical savings accounts; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR), in conjunction with Hawaii’s health plans, is requested to explore options for providing small businesses with a medical savings account (MSA) and high deductible health plan options to meet the benefit levels of a prepaid health plan as defined under PHCA; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DLIR shall address the following questions when reviewing the possibility of providing medical savings accounts and high deductible health plans to Hawaii’s consumers:

(1) How will DLIR qualify MSAs under PHCA when it requires first dollar coverage?

(2) Will there be guidelines on what services have first dollar coverage and will mandated health care benefits be included? (For example, with a high deductible plan, the first $1,750 of dialysis services may not be covered);

(3) Why will MSAs be successful in Hawaii when nationally, enrollment has been low and are mostly purchased by sole proprietors and not employers?

(4) How will MSAs help control health care cost trends from an individual and employer perspective?

(5) Is there a potential risk to the viability of other prepaid health care plans if MSAs are offered as an option by having a disproportionate number of healthier individuals enroll in MSAs?

(6) Will MSAs increase the risk of adverse selection and actually increase health care costs for the majority of Hawaii’s citizens?

(7) Will individual consumers end up paying considerably higher prices for their health care services (physicians and hospitals) because they will be unable to control costs like health plans do?

(8) Would this type of prepaid health plan play a role in encouraging employers to provide coverage to part-time workers and for those who are currently uninsured?

(9) Will contributions that employers make to fund the MSAs be a deductible business expense? How much will employers be required to contribute?

(10) Would a state MSA operate differently from the federal MSA? What would be the differences?

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DLIR submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature no later than 20 days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Insurance Commissioner, and all health plans licensed to do business in the State of Hawaii.

 
 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Requesting the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, in conjunction with Hawaii's health plans, to explore options for providing medical savings accounts and high deductible plans to Hawaii's businesses under Hawaii's Prepaid Health Care Act.