STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1012

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 10

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Health and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 10 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT AN IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT ON LEGISLATION MANDATING COVERAGE OF PALLIATIVE CARE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Auditor to conduct an impact assessment report, pursuant to sections 23-51 and 23-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, on the social and financial impacts of mandating health insurance coverage for palliative care to determine whether this mandated coverage is in the best interest of the State.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the American Cancer Society; Hawaii Chapter, American Physical Therapy Association; and St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from Kaiser Permanente.

     Your Committees find that mandatory insurance coverage of palliative care would accomplish two goals - eliminating financial barriers to health care access for individuals and providing incentives for the inclusion of palliative care in mainstream health care.  Your Committees further find that a more detailed analysis should be undertaken, with an emphasis on the importance of palliative care, to determine the feasibility of mandating this type of insurance coverage.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 10, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 10, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Commerce and Consumer Protection,

____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair