STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2308

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 3036

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 3036 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to specify that group health insurance plans shall provide dependent coverage for natural grandchildren adopted by plan participants or beneficiaries.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and HMSA.

     Your Committee finds that grandparent caregivers may have difficulty finding health insurance coverage for their grandchildren.  Grandparents in the paid work force that have employer-provided group insurance still face problems securing health insurance for their grandchildren because employer-provided group health insurance is generally available for children in kinship care arrangements.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3036, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3036, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair