STAND. COM. REP. NO 223

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 398

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 398 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CANCER,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to promote and encourage colorectal cancer screening through a public awareness campaign by launching a colorectal cancer screening and awareness pilot program.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, The Queen's Health Systems, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Hawai‘i Pacific Health, and twenty-two individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and Department of the Attorney General.

     Your Committee finds that increased colorectal cancer screening can save many lives in Hawaii.  Nationwide, states and organizations are committing to the "80% by 2018" initiative, which is an effort to eliminate colorectal cancer as a major public health problem by getting eighty percent of adults aged fifty and older screened for colorectal cancer by 2018.  Hawaii's current screening rate for colorectal cancer is sixty-four percent.  Your Committee finds that colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Hawaii, and has clear ethnic and gender disparities.  Colorectal screening rates are also much lower for individuals residing in low-income households and those with less than a high school education.

Your Committee finds that colorectal cancer is a cause of considerable suffering among more than one hundred forty thousand adults in the country diagnosed with this cancer each year.  Your Committee emphasizes that a priority of the Hawaii State Cancer Plan is to increase colorectal screening rates and reduce morbidity and mortality of colorectal cancer through screening and early detection.  Your Committee finds that there is work to be done to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in an effort to improve the quality of life for hundreds of people in the State by detecting and preventing death from late stage colorectal cancer and lessening the physical, emotional, and financial burden that often accompany a cancer diagnosis.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Removing language requiring the Department of Health to award grants to health care providers to provide colorectal cancer screening under the pilot program and inserting language requiring the Department to:

          (A)  Collaborate with healthcare providers to integrate colorectal cancer screenings into their standard practice; and

          (B)  Partner with healthcare providers to screen eligible participants in accordance with the guidelines of the United States Preventative Services Task Force;

     (2)  Removing language specifying the tests and procedures that eligible participants of the pilot program may be offered and paid for, depending on their risk for colorectal cancer;

     (3)  Inserting a blank appropriation amount for the pilot program; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     Your Committee notes that although the appropriation has been removed from this measure, the recommended appropriation for the colorectal cancer screening and awareness pilot program is $250,000 per fiscal year.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 398, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 398, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

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ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair