STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2237-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.C.R. No. 50

S.D. 1

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 Health, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 50, S.D. 1, entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE HAWAII HEALTH PLAN WORKING GROUP TO DESIGN AND RECOMMEND A BASIC, AFFORDABLE HAWAII HEALTH PLAN AVAILABLE TO EVERY RESIDENT OF THE STATE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish the Hawaii Health Plan Working Group to design and recommend a basic, affordable Hawaii Health Plan available to every resident of the State.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; State Health Planning and Development Agency; and Hawaii Primary Care Association. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Legislative Reference Bureau; and Hawaii Medical Association.

Your Committee finds that recent actions on the federal level, including the failure to extend the federal Premium Tax Credit, which helped reduce the monthly payments of eligible individuals who purchased a qualifying health plan through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, and the expansion of Medicaid work requirements, are expected to leave an estimated six to seven percent of Hawaii residents without health insurance coverage. Your Committee further finds that when the State faced a similar problem in the late 1980s, the Legislature passed Act 378, Session Laws of Hawaii 1989, also known as the State Health Insurance Program Act, which helped subsidize insurance coverage for qualifying individuals. Your Committee believes that enacting a similar plan now may help thousands of Hawaii residents who are expected to become uninsured under the new federal standards be able to afford health insurance.

Your Committee additionally believes that the working group established by this measure should consider examining whether providing appropriate funding for the existing but currently inactive State Health Insurance Program and subsidizing insurance coverage for qualifying individuals through the existing statutory framework is a feasible alternative to the establishment of a statewide Hawaii Health Plan.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the composition of the working group;

(2) Designating the Administrator of the State Health Planning and Development Agency, or the Administrator's designee, as Chair of the working group;

(3) Amending the recipients of certified copies of this measure; and

(4) 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 Health that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 50, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 50, S.D. 1, H.D. 1.

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

____________________________

GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair