HR55

WHEREAS, the United States Census Bureau reported that the number of Americans without health insurance in 2006 increased to more than 47,000,000 people, representing a five per cent increase from 2005; and

WHEREAS, a majority of health insurance plans are regulated by the federal government through Medicare, Medicaid, or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; and

WHEREAS, such an expanded federal role in health insurance has diminished the role of the states in regulating insurance and impeded state efforts to address the uninsured; and

WHEREAS, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators believes that states could enact landmark reforms should Congress heed the advice of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and approach state legislatures as "laboratories of democracy"; and

WHEREAS, though faced with federal obstacles, in 2006, state legislatures in Massachusetts and Tennessee enacted comprehensive health insurance reforms designed to improve access and affordability of health insurance in their respective states; and

WHEREAS, in January 2007, Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tom Price (R-GA), and John Tierney (D-MA) introduced bipartisan legislation in the United States House of Representatives, H.R. 506, The Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 506 would provide federal "State Health Expansion and Improvement Grants" to states to develop and implement innovative comprehensive health insurance reform proposals to address their respective uninsured populations; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 506 is designed "to break the Congressional logjam regarding health care reform and provide for innovation in health care through state initiatives that expand health care coverage," according to its sponsors; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 506 would permit states to seek exceptions to otherwise applicable federal statutes, regulations, and policies, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 506 would encourage states to implement a variety of reform options, including, but not limited to tax credit approaches, expansions of public programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, health savings accounts, high risk pools, single-payer systems, and purchasing pool arrangements similar to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 506 was co-sponsored by seventy-four members of the United States House of Representatives, including thirty-nine Democrats and thirty-five Republicans as of October 5, 2007; and

WHEREAS, a substantially similar bill, S. 2772, The Health Partnership Act, has been introduced in the United States Senate by Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM); now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that this body supports H.R. 506, The Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act, and urges members of Congress to take action on the proposal and help states address the number of uninsured Americans; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation are urged to support H.R. 506 and S. 2772; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature commends Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Tom Price, and John Tierney, and Senators George Voinovich and Jeff Bingaman for their leadership in developing and promoting bipartisan legislation that recognizes states as "laboratories of democracy"; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the primary sponsors of H.R. 506 and S. 2772, and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Health Insurance; Supporting Federal Legislation

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	55
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII