STAND. COM. REP. NO. 611

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1636

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1636 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of the bill is to amend Chapter 386, HRS, to require the state and courts to recognize the validity of negotiated labor-management agreements by:

(1) Enabling an employer and employee to negotiate new approaches relating to the medical treatment and rehabilitation of injured workers; and

(2) Requiring the annual collection and evaluation of accurate empirical data by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to enable the assessment of program effectiveness in providing workers with timely and quality care and in determining the cost savings from such a program.

The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Hawaii Insurers Council, BIA-Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill. The Department of Human Resources Development, Hawaii State AFL-CIO, ILWU Local 142, and HEMIC opposed this bill.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1636 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

 

____________________________

KIRK CALDWELL, Chair