STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 475-26
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2026
RE: H.B. No. 2501
H.D. 1
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2026
State of Hawaii
Madame:
Your Committees on Health and Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 2501 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH CARE,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The
purpose of this measure is to balance
the financial burden of high-cost Medicare and uninsured patients among health
care institutions that receive state funds by:
(1) Requiring hospitals and hospital systems to submit annual certified reports detailing the costs of care for certain Medicare and uninsured patients;
(2) Requiring the Department of Health, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and State
Health Planning and Development Agency to review the reports, establish
standards and procedures, and adopt rules;
(3) Directing the Department of Health to consider the reports when determining
the Department's budget request and to designate financial assistance requests
in an equitable manner; and
(4) Requiring the Office of the Auditor to conduct periodic audits of the financial assistance distributed to hospitals and hospital systems.
Your Committees find
that the State's hospitals and hospital systems bear significant and often
uneven financial burdens when providing care to high-need Medicare
beneficiaries and uninsured patients, with health care institutions serving
rural or medically underserved areas bearing a disproportionately large share
of the uncompensated costs. Your
Committees further find that a standardized, statewide system for quantifying
and comparing these expenses will enable the State to better understand the
budgetary needs and financial pressures faced by individual institutions. This measure is intended to strengthen the
financial stability of the State's health care infrastructure and improve the
State's ability to ensure equitable care for all residents by requiring the Department
of Health to collect certain financial data from State hospitals and hospital
systems for use in its budget determinations.
Your
Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Requiring hospital and hospital systems to
report on their net loss from caring for high-need Medicare beneficiaries and
uninsured patients, rather than the total amount expended;
(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000,
to encourage further discussion; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Consumer Protection & Commerce that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2501, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2501, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Consumer Protection & Commerce,
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____________________________ SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair |
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____________________________ GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair |
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