Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2098, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow the release of a deceased person's medical records, with certain limitations, to the next of kin.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente, and the Queen's Medical Center. Comments were submitted by the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that many people have difficulty accessing medical records of deceased family members. These records may be needed for life insurance or worker's compensation death benefits, as well as for evidence in traffic accident lawsuits. However, due to requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a health care provider may only release the patient's medical records if that patient had a will. Absent a will, which many people do not have, the deceased's relatives will have to undergo legal proceedings that can be costly and time consuming.

Your Committee amended this measure by adopting the amendments suggested by the Department of the Attorney General to provide that a health care provider may honor a request for a deceased person's records notwithstanding applicable state confidentiality laws governing certain types of specially protected health information.

Your Committee also amended this measure to make technical, nonsubstantive changes.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2098, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2098, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.