STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1244-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 3025

S.D. 2

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 Human Services & Homelessness and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 3025, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEDICAL DEBT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require, and appropriate funds to, the Office of Wellness and Resilience to develop, implement, and administer a medical debt acquisition and forgiveness program for certain individuals in the State with outstanding medical debt.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Wellness and Resilience; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Hoaloha Project; Hawaiʻi Data Collaborative; The Queen's Health Systems; American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network; Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute; Holomua Collaborative; HPM Building Supply; Mana Up; AlohaCare; Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; Hawaiʻi State Rural Health Association; Indivisible Hawaii Healthcare Team; and four individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the State Procurement Office.

Your Committees find that medical debt often arises unexpectedly and can exceed a person's ability to pay, which can lead to serious consequences, such as damaged credit, difficulty finding housing or jobs, delayed or avoided medical care, and emotional stress and anxiety. Your Committees further find that the burden of medical debt falls disproportionately on vulnerable members of society, including individuals with disabilities, individuals in poor health, lower-income households, and the uninsured.

Your Committees also find that twenty-seven states and cities in the United States have partnered with a nonprofit organization to abolish billions of dollars of medical debt. The targeted, efficient approach to the medical debt crisis in the State proposed by this measure enables Hawaii to join in this effort and will provide immediate financial relief to individuals and families, thereby removing barriers to financial stability and improving peace of mind.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the medical debt acquisition and forgiveness program is subject to the availability of program funds for contracts with organizations that administer medical debt acquisition and forgiveness; and

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

Your Committees also find that a one-time payment of $500,000 will enable the Office of Wellness and Resilience to contract for the abolishment of approximately $91,000,000 of medical debt, which currently impacts over fifty thousand state residents. Your Committees therefore respectfully request your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $500,000.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services & Homelessness and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3025, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3025, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services & Homelessness and Health,

____________________________ GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair

____________________________ LISA MARTEN, Chair