STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2583

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2605

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2605 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH CARE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require health insurers, mutual benefit societies, and health maintenance organizations to provide health insurance coverage for various sexual and reproductive health care services; and

(2) Apply this coverage to health benefits plans under the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates – Hawaiʻi, Hawaii Medical Association, Indivisible Hawaii Healthcare Team, Hawaiʻi Affiliate of American College of Nurse-Midwives, Save Medicaid Hawaii, Hawaiʻi Health and Harm Reduction Center, and twenty-one individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from surfing4truth and forty-five individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hawaii Association of Health Plans, and Hawaii Medical Service Association.

Your Committee finds that the State has long been a leader in advancing reproductive rights and advocating for access to affordable and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care without discrimination. However, gaps in coverage and care still exist, and benefits and protections in the State have been threatened for years by a hostile federal administration that has attempted to restrict and repeal the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Additionally, access to sexual and reproductive health care is critical for the health and economic security of all people in the State. Therefore, safeguarding access to reproductive health care, limiting out-of-pocket costs, and improving overall access to care is crucial to preserve the mandates of the Affordable Care Act while protecting Hawaii's people. Accordingly, this measure provides additional safeguards for reproductive health care coverage in the State to ensure greater accessibility for all residents.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have required a policy to cover an alternative contraceptive supply prescribed by the health care provider if a contraceptive supply covered by the policy is deemed medically inadvisable by the insured's health care provider;

(2) Deleting language that would have amended the definition of "contraceptive supplies" as it relates to individual or group accident and health or sickness insurance plans, to include supplies used by the insured's partner;

(3) Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2605, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2605, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair