STAND. COM. REP. NO. 650

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1341

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1341, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT INNOVATION WAIVER,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide the State Innovation Waiver Task Force with a more focused purpose and the resources necessary to develop a waiver to certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act) in a timely manner.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that the State Innovation Waiver Task Force was established by the Legislature in 2014 for the purpose of developing a plan that meets the requirements for obtaining a state innovation waiver that complies with the Affordable Care Act.  The task force is scheduled to be dissolved on June 30, 2017, and has yet to develop a compliant waiver plan.

 

Your Committee finds that the state innovation waiver is a crucial mechanism that will allow the State and its health insurers better address the challenges that are distinct to Hawaii's unique healthcare market and more successfully implement the Affordable Care Act in conjunction with Hawaii's Prepaid Health Care Act.  Currently, the task force does not have all of the resources that it needs to continue its work to develop an innovation waiver proposal.  Narrowing the scope of the task force's purpose and providing the task force with the resources it needs to develop an innovation waiver proposal will complete an important step toward improving the effectiveness of insurance and healthcare delivery in Hawaii under the new requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1341, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair