STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2740

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2199

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2199 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the State to apply for a waiver from certain provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, for implementation on or after January 1, 2019, upon approval by the United States Secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Treasury.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Insurance Division, Kaiser Permanente, and Hawaii Medical Service Association.

Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from one individual.

One individual submitted written comments on this measure.

Your Committee finds that the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act encourages states to develop innovative approaches to providing access to health insurance and authorizes the states to apply for waivers to implement these reforms. This measure will help to implement the recommendations of the Affordable Health Insurance Working Group, convened pursuant to Act 43, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017, which recommended that Hawaii explore the possibility of a state reinsurance program for the individual health insurance market.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(2) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2199, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2199, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair