STAND. COM. REP. NO. 257

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1422

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1422 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a 2.13% insurance premium tax on all health care plan premiums, remove the income cap on QUEST to cover 24,458 uninsured adults, add dental benefits for children and adults, raise SCHIP eligibility to 300% of the poverty level to add 2,874 uninsured children, and use the premium tax to fund QUEST/SCHIP costs.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Legal Aid Society and Hawaii Primary Care. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Services, the Department of Taxation, The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, The Employer's Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Kaiser Permanente, and Summerlin Life and Health Insurance Company unless amendments were made. Comments were received by the Hawaii Uninsured Project.

Your Committees find that Hawaii's QUEST program goes a long way toward providing universal health coverage; however, the program cannot handle all eligible uninsured adults. A cap has been placed on participation in the QUEST program, thus leaving out an estimated 24,458 eligible uninsured adults. Your Committees believe that by raising the family income eligibility threshold from two hundred to three hundred per cent of the federal poverty level for Hawaii, an estimated 2,874 additional uninsured children can be covered. Your Committees further find that it is appropriate to establish and use the health insurance premium tax to assist the QUEST program and state children's health insurance program to address the additional costs of covering uninsured adults and children.

Your Committees have amended this measure by adopting the amendment suggested by Summerlin Life and Health Insurance Company to expand the definition of managed care plan and exempt care plans from section 431:7-202, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1422, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1422, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

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SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair