STAND. COM. REP. NO. 859

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 608

       H.D. 3

       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 Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 608, H.D. 3, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds, subject to dollar-for-dollar private matching funds, to sustain a qualified provider with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services certification to provide kidney and liver transplant operations in Hawaii and maintain a federally-recognized chronic kidney disease management program.  The intent of this measure is to help ensure that organ transplant patients are able to remain in the islands near their support networks and receive efficient and timely care.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii and three private citizens. 

     Your Committee finds that there is a critical need to support ongoing services provided by a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-certified kidney and liver transplant provider in Hawaii to enable residents of Hawaii to receive proper care within the State, eliminating the need for them to travel great distances to receive treatment on the Mainland.  Your Committee heard testimony questioning whether the State could do better than simply providing a dollar-for-dollar match of private funds.  Your Committee acknowledges this concern and requests that your Committee on Ways and Means further consider this issue.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2040, to allow for further discussion; and

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 608, H.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 608, H.D. 3, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair