STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2296

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2289

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2289 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CERTIFICATES OF NEED,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to exempt from the certificate of need requirements certain health care facilities and services that address maternal and pediatric health, serve federally designated medically underserved rural areas, lower patient costs, are unlikely to be overprescribed, and assist certain vulnerable populations.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and two individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Maui Health System, Liberty Dialysis-Hawaii, Hawaiʻi Care Choices, and Bristol Hospice.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Navian Hawaii, U.S. Renal Care, The Queen's Health Systems, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the State's restrictive certificate of need program has become a barrier to affordable and accessible health care in the State, especially in rural areas and for vulnerable populations. Given the health care workforce shortages across the State and subsequent shortage of health care services, your Committee further finds that is necessary to establish certain certificate-of-need exemptions for facilities and services that help vulnerable populations, reduce costs, or are unlikely to be used unnecessarily. This measure further streamlines the State's certificate of need program by establishing certain exemptions.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have exempted hospital beds dedicated to pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit patients from certificate of need requirements;

(2) Deleting language that would have exempted organized ambulatory health care facilities that operate as surgical centers from certificate of need requirements;

(3) Deleting language that would have exempted hospice homes as defined in section 321-15.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, from certificate of need requirements; 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. 2289, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2289, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair