STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1195

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 88

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 88, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE FRAUD,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to expand the authority of the Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' (DCCA) insurance fraud investigation branch to include the investigation and prosecution of workers' compensation insurance fraud until July 1, 2010, and to appropriate funds for additional personnel and resources to combat both workers' compensation and motor vehicle insurance fraud.

     DCCA, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Department of the Attorney General, and Department of Human Resources Development supported this bill.  Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Company, Inc. supported the intent of this measure.  The Hawaii State AFL-CIO and ILWU 142 opposed this bill.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Including premium fraud as an offense for which penalties will be applied, excluding employees;

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

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for clarity, consistency, 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 H.B. No. 88, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 88, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair