STAND. COM. REP. NO. 772

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 900

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 900, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to improve maternal health.

More specifically, the measure requires the Department of Human Services to:

(1) Collect and report data on severe maternal morbidity incidents, disaggregated by county, race, and ethnicity; and

(2) Develop, and the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women to Administer, an implicit bias training program for health care professionals in the State's perinatal facilities.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaii Women's Coalition, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks!, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, and numerous individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Health; Hawaii Pacific Health; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Hawaii Section; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; and Queen's Health Systems.

Your Committee finds that this measure will help address the overrepresentation of Native Hawaiians in negative maternal health outcomes and ensure that mothers are safe from medical racism and implicit bias that may compromise their health care.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying the reference to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act by including a reference to the appropriate public law; and

(2) Making technical nonsubstantive changes 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. 900, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 900, S.D. 2.

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

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair