STAND. COM. REP. NO. 768

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1040

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1040, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require and appropriate moneys for the Office of Wellness and Resilience to develop, implement, and administer a Medical Debt Acquisition and Forgiveness program to acquire and forgive medical debt owed by certain households in the State.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Office of Wellness and Resilience in the Office of the Governor; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Hawaii Public Health Institute; The Queen's Health Systems; American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network; Holomua Collaborative; Holomua Collaborative on behalf of the Hawaii Community Foundation, Title Guaranty, Mana Up, Hawaii Gas, and Tori Richard; Democratic Party of Hawaii Education Caucus, Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks!; and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the burden of carrying significant medical debt can be detrimental to a person's mental and physical health. Your Committee believes that the medical debt forgiveness program established by this measure will help provide economic relief to families that are struggling under the weight of rising health care costs.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Codifying section 2 of the measure in Chapter 27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to make the Medical Debt Acquisition and Forgiveness program permanent; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive edits 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. 1040, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1040, 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