STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1405-14

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2014

RE:   H.R. No. 68

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.R. No. 68 entitled:

"HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO ASSESS THE SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL EFFECTS OF REQUIRING HEALTH INSURERS TO PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR BRAIN INJURY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure, as received by your Committee, is to request the Auditor to conduct an impact assessment report of the social and financial impacts of mandating insurance coverage for rehabilitation therapy services for brain injuries.

     For purposes of facilitating public input on this measure, your Committee gave notice of and held a public hearing on a proposed draft of this measure. The proposed draft circulated by your Committee:

(1)  Amends the title of this measure to read: "URGING COMMUNITY AWARENESS OF AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS, ALSO KNOWN AS ALS OR LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE, AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR FINDING A CURE FOR ALS AND THE PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE TO ALS PATIENTS."; and

(2)  Urges community awareness of, and support for, finding a cure for ALS and the provision of assistance to ALS patients; and

(3)  Urges support for the "Walk to Defeat ALS," which is scheduled for Saturday, September 6, 2014 at 11:00 A.M., at Kapiolani Regional Park in Honolulu, Hawaii; and

(4)  Recognizes the ALS Ohana of Hawaii and the ALS Association Golden West Chapter for their efforts to achieve the goal of a Hawaii ALS registry.

Your Committee received testimony on the proposed draft. The ALS Association Golden West Chapter, the ALS Ohana of Hawaii, and several individuals testified in support of this measure. An individual provided comments.

     Upon consideration of this measure in the form in which it was received and in the form of the proposed draft, your Committee has adopted the proposed draft and has further amended it by:

(1)  Specifying that the National ALS Registry is primarily administered by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is in turn a sister agency of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and

(2)  Clarifying that a certified copy of the measure be transmitted to the National ALS Association; and

(3)  Adding the following organizations to receive certified copies of this measure: members of the Hawaii delegation to Congress, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Governor of the State of Hawaii, the State Office of Veterans Services, the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the Hawaii Medical Association, the ALS Ohana of Hawaii, the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Association of Health Plans and its members; and

(4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 68, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.R. No. 68, H.D. 1.

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

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair