STAND. COM. REP. NO. 4058

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.C.R. No. 33

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Health, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 33 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT A SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL ASSESSMENT OF PROPOSED MANDATORY HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR EARLY ACCESS BREAST CANCER SCREENING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Auditor to conduct an impact assessment report in accordance with sections 23-51 and 23-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, of mandating health insurance coverage for early access breast cancer screening as proposed by Senate Bill No. 827, S.D. 2, introduced in the Regular Session of 2021 (S.B. No. 827).

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Medical Association. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

Your Committees find that breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women in Hawaii. Federal guidelines recommend screening women for breast cancer at age fifty; however, women in certain ethnic groups are more likely to develop breast cancer before the age of fifty, including women of Asian and Native Hawaiian descent. Risk assessment and early detection greatly decrease breast cancer morbidity and mortality. Accordingly, the expansion of insurance coverage for breast cancer screening for younger women at higher risk can increase early identification and the initiation of life saving treatments, which can also help health plans save money in the long-term. S.B. No. 827 would improve breast cancer detection rates in the State by increasing the categories of women required to be covered for mammogram screenings, mandating coverage for low-dose mammography to include digital mammography and breast tomosynthesis, and requiring health care providers to be reimbursed at rates accurately reflecting the resource cost specific to each service. This measure is necessary to advance S.B. No. 827 and protect women in minority communities who would be disproportionately and adversely impacted by federal guidelines limiting their access to life saving screening.

Your Committees have amended this measure by 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 and Consumer Protection and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 33, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 33, S.D. 1.

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

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair