STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1356

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

 

RE:   S.B. No. 1463

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1463 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION TO THE HAWAII HEALTH SYSTEMS CORPORATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to make an emergency appropriation to the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation to pay for operational costs.

 

     More specifically, the measure increases the expenditure ceiling of the health systems special fund, and appropriates $41,000,000 out of that fund for the corporation to pay for the increasing costs of providing health care that includes additional staff, including physicians for specialty coverage, the conversion of certain hospitals to critical access hospital status, and to operate the medical and surgical wing at Maui Memorial Medical Center.

 

     The Hawaii Health Systems Corporation submitted testimony in support of the measure.

 

     Your Committee finds that the current special fund expenditure ceiling is insufficient to cover the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation's operational costs of providing health care for fiscal year 2006-2007.  This emergency appropriation will allow the continuation of quality health care services necessary to meet community health care needs, particularly on the neighbor islands.

 

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2121 to facilitate further discussion on the issue.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1463, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1463, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

JOSHUA B. GREEN, M.D., Chair