STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1659-06

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: S.B. No. 2021

S.D. 2

H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 2021, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EMPLOYER-UNION HEALTH BENEFITS TRUST FUND,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to protect the health benefits of and provide parity to employee-beneficiaries who retire and relocate outside the coverage area of the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF). Specifically, this measure:

(1) Requires EUTF to reimburse employee-beneficiaries who have retired and moved out of the state for premiums paid for a personal health insurance policy, with reimbursement to be the lesser of:

(A) The actual cost of the personal health insurance policy; or

(B) The amount of the state or county contribution for the most comparable health benefits plan;

and

(2) Allows the EUTF Board of Trustees to determine which employee-beneficiaries and personal health insurance policies are eligible for reimbursement and set other conditions.

The Department of Budget and Finance, EUTF Board of Trustees, and Hawaii State Teachers Association testified in support of this bill. The Department of the Attorney General offered comments.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Specifying that this measure applies to all "employee-beneficiaries," instead of "retirees," which is not defined in the relevant statutory chapter;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2021, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2021, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

		____________________________ DWIGHT TAKAMINE, Chair