STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2796

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                   

 

RE:     S.B. No. 2429

        S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2429 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide medical assistance for a pregnant woman who is ineligible for medical insurance coverage through her employer or Medicaid for a period ending twelve months after childbirth.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; Breastfeeding Hawaii; Hawaii Women's Coalition; American Academy of Pediatrics, Hawaii Chapter; American Association of University Women of Hawaii; Hawaii Children's Action Network; Midwives Alliance of Hawaii; Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii; The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; March of Dimes; Hawaii Maternal and Infant Health Collaborative; and fifteen individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.

 

     Your Committees find that women who are ineligible for post-partum health coverage struggle to get necessary care during the twelve weeks following childbirth, which is a critical time because women are more likely to die of pregnancy-related conditions during this time than during pregnancy or childbirth.  Because Medicaid pregnancy coverage, which pays for nearly half of all births in the United States, expires sixty days after childbirth, many women are left without health insurance during this vulnerable time.  This measure ensures that women have access to care after birth and improves maternal health in the State.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that any woman who is enrolled in Medicaid insurance coverage during her pregnancy shall be eligible for medical assistance for a period of twelve months following the pregnancy, using the same eligibility criteria that qualified her for pregnancy coverage; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2429, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2429, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

________________________________

RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair

 

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair