STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1181-18

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2018

RE: S.B. No. 2660

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 Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2660 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEDICAL COVERAGE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Expedite workers' compensation claims for injured firefighters by requiring the firefighter's private health insurance to cover the cost of a controverted claim, subject to reimbursement upon a later finding that the claim is compensable; and

(2) Require reimbursement by the employer of a firefighter with at least five years of service at a rate of up to 137 percent of the Medicaid reimbursement rate for workers' compensation claims for certain types of cancer with a high correlation to service-connected contaminant exposure.

The Hawaii State Fire Council, Honolulu Fire Department, Department of Fire and Public Safety of the County of Maui, Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, Local 1463, IAFF, AFL-CIO, and Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i testified in support of this measure. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations testified in support of the intent. The Hawaii Insurers Council provided comments.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing its effective date to January 1, 2050, to promote further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2660, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2660, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________

AARON LING JOHANSON, Chair