HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

608

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011

H.D. 3

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 1

 

C.D. 1

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO HEALTH.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     Section 1.  This Act is recommended by the governor for immediate passage in accordance with section 9 of article VII of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.

     SECTION 2.  The legislature finds that organ transplantation is a life-saving therapy for many critically ill patients with end-stage diseases.  More than one hundred ten thousand patients are on the national organ transplant waiting list; four hundred seven of those patients are Hawaii residents.  The legislature further finds that there is only one Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-certified organ transplant facility for liver and kidney transplants in the State, where dozens of transplantations are performed each year and patients with organ transplants continue to receive monitoring and follow-up care from medical staff, physicians, and surgeons after their operations.

     Funding is critical to maintain a federally-recognized stage 3 chronic kidney disease program that focuses on prevention for disparate populations in Hawaii.  Without operational organ transplant services in the State, patients with end-stage diseases must register on transplant waiting lists for mainland transplant centers and many of these patients will face a longer waiting time to receive a donor organ at a transplant center on the mainland than at a transplant center in Hawaii.  The increased waiting time for an organ may mean that the sickest of those patients may not survive long enough for a donor organ to become available.  In addition to the increased waiting time, many waitlisted patients in the State will have the additional burden of relocating to other areas of the country, away from friends and family, while awaiting a donor organ and during their recovery.

     An emergency appropriation is necessary to preserve and save the lives of individuals combating organ failure by providing them with access to organ transplantation in the State and giving them quality care and treatment throughout their operation and recovery.

     The purpose of this Act is to appropriate emergency funds, subject to dollar-for-dollar private matching funds, to support ongoing services by a qualified provider with United Network for Organ Sharing certification to perform kidney and liver transplants in Hawaii, and to support a federally-recognized chronic kidney disease management program.

     SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,800,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2011-2012 to support ongoing services by a qualified provider with United Network for Organ Sharing certification to perform kidney and liver transplants in Hawaii and to support a federally-recognized chronic kidney disease management program; provided that:

(1)  No funds appropriated under this Act shall be expended unless matched dollar-for-dollar with private funds; and

(2)  Any private matching funds obtained for the purposes of this Act shall have priority in being encumbered over public funds. 

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of health for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 4.  Funds appropriated under this Act shall be exempt from chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval

 

Report Title:

Kidney; Liver; Transplants; Appropriation

 

Description:

Appropriates emergency funds, subject to dollar-for-dollar private matching funds, to be expended by the Department of Health to support ongoing services provided by a qualified provider with United Network for Organ Sharing certification to perform kidney and liver transplants in Hawaii and to support a federally-recognized chronic kidney disease management program, subject to certain conditions.  (HB608 CD1)

 

 

 

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