STAND. COM. REP. NO.  926-08

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1476

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 1476 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure affordable health care insurance coverage for people who do not qualify for employer-provided health insurance or public benefits by requiring the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' (DCCA) Insurance Commissioner to contract with health care plan carriers to provide health care coverage at premium levels that do not exceed 110 percent of the median price of health insurance offered in the state.

 

     This bill also:

 

(1)  Requires the Insurance Commissioner to transfer administrative and fiscal responsibility for the program to a nonprofit entity; and

 

(2)  Establishes a special fund to fund the operations of the health insurance purchasing pool.

 

     The State Procurement Office, DCCA, and Hawaii Medical Services Association submitted comments.


 

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

 

(1)  Deleting provisions authorizing an exemption from the state procurement code for any contracts the Insurance Commissioner enters into to carry out the purposes of this bill;

 

(2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

 

(3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1476, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1476, H.D. 1.

 

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

 

 

 

 

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair