STAND. COM. REP. NO.  929-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 2888

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 2888, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEDICAL SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure statewide health care coverage through various methods of delivery by appropriating:

(1)  $500,000 for the purchase of a mobile medical van, including necessary planning and equipment to provide medical care services to be expended by Kona Community Hospital (KCH);

(2)  $1 for 24-hour advanced life support ambulance service for the Haiku district on the island of Maui;

(3)  An unspecified amount for 24-hour advanced life support ambulance service for the island of Molokai;

(4)  $2,500,000 for the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC) for plans, design, and construction of phase II to expand and renovate the Center's facilities;

(5)  $450,000 for outpatient urgent and extended emergency medical care in West Maui;

(6)  $10,000,000 to The Queen's Medical Center (QMC) to increase its emergency power generator system to ensure continued operation of its hospital and trauma center in event of a disaster; and

(7)  An unspecified amount for the first year of a three-year family practice residency program based at KCH.

     KCH, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, QMC, WCCHC, Molokai Ohana Healthcare, Inc., and numerous concerned individuals supported this bill.  The Department of Health opposed this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1)  Replacing all the appropriations set out in this bill with unspecified amounts;

(2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage 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. 2888, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2888, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair