STAND. COM. REP. NO. 721

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 240

       S.D. 2

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. 240, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PHYSICIAN WORKFORCE ASSESSMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to improve healthcare in the State by making the physician workforce assessment fee permanent and requiring a portion of the fee to be used to support physician workforce assessment and planning for rural and medically underserved areas.

     Comments in support of this measure were submitted by Dan Domizio PA, MPH, Clinical Programs Director and Chief Executive Officer, Puna Community Medical Center; Kelley Withy, MD, PhD; and David Sakamoto, MD, MBA.

     Comments in opposition to this measure were submitted by Constance Cabral, Executive Officer, Hawaii Medical Board.

     Your Committee finds that areas of the State, especially rural areas, are medically underserved and that additional funding for medical workforce assessment and planning is necessary to ensure that medical services are available to all areas of the State.

     Your Committee has amended this measure to correctly reflect the current version of Act 18, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, and by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

     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. 240, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 240, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair