STAND. COM. REP. NO. 630-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1509

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 1509 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require an employer to file a response, either accepting or objecting to a workers' compensation treatment plan, within seven days of receipt; and

(2) Impose a monetary penalty for failure to timely respond and clarifies when a treatment plan is deemed accepted.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; University of Hawaii Professional Assembly; American Property Casualty Insurance Association; Premier Medical Group Hawaii; Aloha Billing Company; Work Injury Medical Association of Hawaiʻi; and two individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Society for Human Resource Management – Hawaii. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Resources Development and Kohala Coast Resort Association.

Your Committee finds that delays in employer responses to treatment plans can prolong an injured employee's access to necessary medical care and create administrative inefficiencies within the workers' compensation system. Your Committee further finds that inconsistent response practices also lead to confusion for physicians and employees regarding when treatment plans are considered accepted. This measure strengthens timely decision-making, thereby improving clarity and ensuring that legitimate treatment plans move forward without unnecessary delay.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Repealing language that authorized a physician to transmit a treatment plan by mail or facsimile and the requirement for the physician to submit the treatment plan to an address or facsimile number provided by the employer;

(2) Clarifying how a treatment plan is deemed received by an employer;

(3) Clarifying the methods by which an employer may submit its written approval or denial of a treatment plan;

(4) Clarifying that failure to submit a timely response is a single monetary penalty rather than in addition to other applicable fines, unless the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations determines there was good cause for the delay;

(5) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1509, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1509, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor,

____________________________

JACKSON D. SAYAMA, Chair