STAND. COM. REP. NO. 434-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2657

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2657 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to appropriate funds for fiscal year 2004-2005 for the purchase and installation of computers and software to process workers’ compensation claims in the State of Hawaii.

The Administration has proposed an omnibus bill intended to reform Hawaii's workers' compensation system. That measure, H.B. No. 2486, contains nine separate components pertaining to:

(1) Managed care and limits on palliative care;

(2) Exemptions for limited liability corporations, limited liability partnerships, partnerships, and sole proprietorships;

(3) "Maximum medical improvement" and limits on coverage;

(4) Mental stress claims;

(5) Employer-designated health care providers;

(6) Emergency care;

(7) Vocational rehabilitation;

(8) Arbitration; and

(9) Fraud.

To facilitate a thorough review of each of these components, proposed drafts reflecting the deletion of current contents of nine bills and the insertion of new language pertaining to each of the components found in H.B. No. 2486 were heard for purposes of receiving testimony and public comment.

As proposed, the new contents of this bill establishes arbitration procedures under the Workers' Compensation Law by allowing the parties to submit any dispute relating to a claim for compensation to an arbitrator.

The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Hawaii Independent Insurance Agents Association testified in support of this measure. The Department of Human Resources Development, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii, and ILWU Local 142 supported the intent of this bill. Opposing this measure were the Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Company, Inc., United Public Workers, AFSCME, Local 646, AFL-CIO, Hawaii Government Employees Association, State IBEW, Hawaii State AFL-CIO, Hawaii Ironworkers, and Laborers International.

After careful consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by inserting the provisions of the proposed draft and making the following additional revisions:

(1) Applied the provisions of the Uniform Arbitration Act (chapter 658A, Hawaii Revised Statutes) to all workers' compensation arbitration proceedings unless otherwise agreed to by the parties; and

(2) Made technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, style, and conformity.

 

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2657, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2657,

H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

 

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair