STAND. COM. REP. NO.185

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2001

RE: H.B. No. 1306

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1306 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BIRTH DEFECTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to establish the State Birth Defects Program.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Hawaii Medical Association, the Hawaii Birth Defects Program Advisory Committee, and concerned citizens. The Department of Health supported the intent of the measure.

Kaiser Permanente supported the intent of the bill, but had serious concerns regarding patient confidentiality laws and possible violations with this measure.

Your Committee realizes that birth defects are the leading cause of infant and childhood death and long term childhood disability in Hawaii. Moreover, for the last 12 years, the Hawaii Birth Defects Program has been compiling data on the incidence, trend, and clustering of birth defects. This data has been used by various agencies as a tool to determine whether environmental hazards are associated with selected birth defects and to identify possible causes or risk factors associated with birth defects.

 

Your Committee has amended the measure by:

(1) Protecting patient confidentiality;

(2) Amending the appropriations in the measure to $1 to facilitate further discussion; and

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

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 H.B. No. 1306, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1306, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair