STAND. COM. REP. NO. 537

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1538

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1538 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Health and the Civil Defense Division of the Department of Defense to carry out the statewide dialysis emergency plan created by the task force established in 2010 under the federal metropolitan medical response system grant.

     Your Committee finds that the need for emergency planning to maintain dialysis services in Hawaii is pressing because of the State's geographical isolation and the high number of patients with end-stage kidney disease.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the issue; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1538, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1538, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair