STAND. COM. REP. NO.  14-18

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2018

RE:   H.B. No. 1717

      H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health & Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1717 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to task the Legislative Reference Bureau with conducting a study on the projected costs and effects to the State if it were to implement a single-payer health care system similar to that proposed in the Federal Medicare for All Act of 2017.

The Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities; Imua Alliance; Americans for Democratic Action; Windward ReSisters; Ho'ola Lahui Hawaii; Sierra Club of Hawaii; We Are One, Inc.; Kauai Island Utility Cooperative; Young Progressive Democrats Hawaii; and numerous concerned individuals supported this measure.  The Legislative Reference Bureau; Kaiser Permanente Hawaii; Progressive Democrats of Hawaii; and a few concerned individuals provided comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion.

     Your Committee notes the suggested amendments provided by the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) in its written testimony dated January 24, 2018.  Should your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that LRB's suggested amendments be included.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health & Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1717, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1717, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

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

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair