STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1879

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.C.R. No. 171

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 171 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO ASSESS THE SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL EFFECTS OF PROPOSED MANDATORY HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR CONTINUOUS GLUCOSE MONITORS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Auditor to assess the social and financial effects of proposed mandatory health insurance coverage for continuous glucose monitors.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency, Hawaii Medical Association, and Liberty Dialysis Hawaiʻi.

Your Committee finds that over one hundred thousand adults in the State live with diabetes, which requires strict management of blood glucose levels, medication, and lifestyle choices to prevent serious complications. Your Committee further finds that continuous glucose monitors provide real-time data and trends on blood glucose levels, surpassing the limited information available through traditional blood glucose meters, helping patients avoid dangerous blood sugar fluctuations and reduce long-term complications from diabetes, including the need for emergency care. Your Committee finds that requiring health insurance coverage for continuous glucose monitors will enhance diabetes management, reduce long-term diabetes complications, and improve access to essential diabetes care for the residents of the State.

Your Committee notes that H.B. No. 820, Regular Session of 2025, proposes to mandate all health insurers in the State, including Medicaid managed care programs, to cover the cost of continuous glucose monitors and related supplies under certain conditions beginning January 1, 2026. Your Committee further notes that section 23-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires any legislative measure that mandates health insurance coverage for specific health services, specific diseases, or certain providers of health care services as part of individual or group health insurance policies, to be referred, via concurrent resolution, to the Auditor to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report that assesses the social and financial effects of the proposed mandated coverage. Section 23-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, specifies the minimum information that shall be included in the Auditor's report to the extent that information is available. Accordingly, this measure requests the Auditor to assess the social and financial effects of the mandatory health insurance coverage for continuous glucose monitors as proposed in H.B. No. 820.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 171, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 171, S.D. 1.

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

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair