STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2547

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2103

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2103 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH PLANNING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the Hawaii State Planning Act's objectives and policies for health to include the identification of social determinants of health to reduce health disparities among Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Kaiser Permanente, Hawaii Primary Care Association, Waimanalo Health Center, HealthyPacific.org, Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, and fifteen individuals.

     Your Committees find that social determinants are the single most important factor in individual and population health outcomes.  An October 2013 report, "Assessment and Priorities for Health & Well-Being in Native Hawaiians & Other Pacific Peoples", by the John A. Burns School of Medicine, identified a number of social determinants of health among Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos, who typically have disparate health outcomes compared to the rest of the state population.  It is imperative that the State address these social determinants of health to improve the health and well-being of Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2103 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Health,

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair

____________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair