Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1062 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to create a center for end-of-life care within the Executive Office on Aging.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate and Compassionate Care, Hawaii Family Forum, Mestizo Association, the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Policy Advisory Board for Elderly Affairs, and three private citizens. Testimony in support of the intent of this measure was submitted by the Executive Office on Aging and the Hawaii Medical Association.

Your Committee finds that one of the most difficult events in the life of any individual and his or her family is the dying process. People facing the end of their lives deserve the best possible end-of-life care. They deserve to have their pain and symptoms managed effectively, to be comfortable, to understand what is happening to them both physically and emotionally, and to be aware of their rights in deciding their fates. This measure will help improve end-of-life care and increase resources. It will also advance the understanding of end-of-life care among health care professionals and the general public. The center established in this measure would complement the efforts of Kokua Mau, Hawaii's end-of-life care coalition.

Your Committee has deleted the dollar amount and left it blank for determination by the Committee on Ways and Means. Your Committee has also amended the measure to request the Executive Office on Aging to seek grants, donations, and other sources of private funding for establishing the end-of-life center. Your Committee also made technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purpose of consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1062, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1062, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.