STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1463

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.C.R. No. 125

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 Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Health, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 125 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO STUDY AND REPORT ON COMPETITIVE PRACTICES OF HEALTH INSURERS, MUTUAL BENEFIT SOCIETIES, AND HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau to study and report on the competitive practices of health insurers, mutual benefit societies, health maintenance organizations, and other organizations providing health care coverage in the State.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Employers' Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Coalition for Health, Summerlin Life and Health Insurance Company, Hawaii Congress of Physicians, and Hawaii Independent Physicians Association. Kaiser Permanente and Hawaii Medical Service Association opposed the measure. The Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) presented comments.

Your Committees find that health insurance costs continue to rise in the State and that a lack of competition in Hawaii's marketplace has been cited as a contributing factor. Therefore, this measure requests LRB to undertake a study of the competitive practices of health insurers, mutual benefit societies, and health maintenance organizations, which includes a review of each insurer's administrative structure and operations, and examines the level of oversight exercised by state agencies.

Your Committees have amended this measure by replacing its contents with language that:

(1) Sets forth allegations previously presented to the Legislature regarding the anti-competitive, monopolistic and predatory pricing practices of health insurers;

(2) Requests the Insurance Commissioner and the Attorney General to:

(a) Review, investigate and, if appropriate, prosecute the alleged illegal practices; and

(b) Submit to the 2006 Legislature proposed corrective legislation that addresses the anti-competitive, monopolistic, and predatory pricing practices, accompanied by the agencies' positions on adoption of the proposed measures; and

(3) Conforms the measure's title to the above changes.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 125, as amended herein, recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 125, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Health,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

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RON MENOR, Chair