STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2065

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2101

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2101 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to establish the state health authority to propose a plan to provide medical assistance for all citizens of Hawaii.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaii Pacific Health.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was received from the Department of the Attorney General, the Department of Budget and Finance, Hawaii Association of Health Plans, and the Hawaii Medical Association.

     Your Committees find that shifting responsibility for administering the Medicaid program from the Department of Human Services to a single state agency needs to be further researched and evaluated to ensure compliance with required federal regulations.  Your Committees further find that clarification is necessary regarding the placement of a new agency or department, in order to comply with Article V, section 6 of the State Constitution.

     Therefore, your Committees have amended this measure by deleting language that establishes the state health authority and replacing it with language that establishes the state health authority task force.  The task force shall research, evaluate, and develop a comprehensive plan that establishes the state health authority, a single state agency that shall be responsible for the overall medical assistance and related insurance needs for the people of Hawaii.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2101, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2101, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Affordable Housing and Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Housing,

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair