Hawaii 2025 Regular Session

Hawaii Senate Bill SR161 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	THE SENATE S.R. NO. 161 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 STATE OF HAWAII SENATE RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE REACTIVATION OF THE HAWAII HEALTH AUTHORITY WITH STATUTORY MANDATES THAT SPECIFICALLY INCLUDE THE TRANSITION OF THE STATE'S HEALTH INSURANCE PAYMENT SYSTEM INTO a single-payer health care system.
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3	3	THE SENATE S.R. NO. 161
4	4	THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
5	5	STATE OF HAWAII
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7	7	THE SENATE
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9	9	S.R. NO.
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11	11	161
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13	13	THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
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17	17	STATE OF HAWAII
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29	29	SENATE RESOLUTION
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35	35	SUPPORTING THE REACTIVATION OF THE HAWAII HEALTH AUTHORITY WITH STATUTORY MANDATES THAT SPECIFICALLY INCLUDE THE TRANSITION OF THE STATE'S HEALTH INSURANCE PAYMENT SYSTEM INTO a single-payer health care system.
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41	41	WHEREAS, the Trump administration and the Republican majority in the United States Congress are threatening deep cuts to federal Medicaid funding; and WHEREAS, the State may soon be in urgent need for a much more cost-effective health care financing system if cuts to Medicaid funding are implemented; and WHEREAS, a single-payer health care financing system in the State could achieve large savings from reduced administrative costs without cuts to care delivery by doctors and hospitals; and WHEREAS, hospitals that are paid with global budgets based on the cost of operations, including salaries for employed doctors, could nearly eliminate the cost of billing and collections that now consume around fifteen percent of total hospital budgets nationwide; and WHEREAS, independent doctors paid pursuant to a simplified, standardized fee-for-service structure based on time and required training for a given procedure, instead of trying to assign a relative value to each of thousands of procedure codes, could markedly reduce billing and collections costs that now consume around fifteen percent of physician practice revenue nationwide; and WHEREAS, similar savings in the fifteen percent range could be achieved from reduced administrative cost through the establishment of a single-payer administrator in the State; and WHEREAS, some of these administrative cost savings could be used to fund community-based programs for high-risk and special needs patients and specialist consultations for primary care to save costs from preventable emergency room visits and hospitalizations; and WHEREAS, some of these administrative cost savings could be used to improve take-home pay for primary care specialists and psychiatrists so that doctors in under-paid specialties could afford the State's high cost of living, potentially reversing the State's severe physician shortage; and WHEREAS, health care costs for Medicaid and state and county employee and retiree benefits now consume around thirty percent of the total state budget; and WHEREAS, the total administrative cost savings from the use of a single-payer administrator could add up to a reduction in the State's health care costs in the range of thirty percent or more, reducing the total state budget by around nine percent; and WHEREAS, Act 11, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, established the Hawaii Health Authority (HHA), codified at chapter 322H, Hawaii Revised Statutes, with a mission to develop a comprehensive plan for a universal health care system covering all residents of the State, but the HHA is currently inactive; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that this body supports the reactivation of the Hawaii Health Authority with statutory mandates that specifically include the transition of the State's health insurance payment system into a single-payer health care system, to be implemented after waivers for Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare have been obtained and all sources of federal funding for these programs have been exhausted; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, Director of Budget and Finance, and Insurance Commissioner. OFFERED BY: _____________________________ Report Title: Hawaii Health Authority; Single-payer Health Care System; Legislature; Waivers; Medicaid; Medicare; Tricare
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43	43	WHEREAS, the Trump administration and the Republican majority in the United States Congress are threatening deep cuts to federal Medicaid funding; and
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47	47	WHEREAS, the State may soon be in urgent need for a much more cost-effective health care financing system if cuts to Medicaid funding are implemented; and
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51	51	WHEREAS, a single-payer health care financing system in the State could achieve large savings from reduced administrative costs without cuts to care delivery by doctors and hospitals; and
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55	55	WHEREAS, hospitals that are paid with global budgets based on the cost of operations, including salaries for employed doctors, could nearly eliminate the cost of billing and collections that now consume around fifteen percent of total hospital budgets nationwide; and
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59	59	WHEREAS, independent doctors paid pursuant to a simplified, standardized fee-for-service structure based on time and required training for a given procedure, instead of trying to assign a relative value to each of thousands of procedure codes, could markedly reduce billing and collections costs that now consume around fifteen percent of physician practice revenue nationwide; and
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63	63	WHEREAS, similar savings in the fifteen percent range could be achieved from reduced administrative cost through the establishment of a single-payer administrator in the State; and
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67	67	WHEREAS, some of these administrative cost savings could be used to fund community-based programs for high-risk and special needs patients and specialist consultations for primary care to save costs from preventable emergency room visits and hospitalizations; and
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71	71	WHEREAS, some of these administrative cost savings could be used to improve take-home pay for primary care specialists and psychiatrists so that doctors in under-paid specialties could afford the State's high cost of living, potentially reversing the State's severe physician shortage; and
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75	75	WHEREAS, health care costs for Medicaid and state and county employee and retiree benefits now consume around thirty percent of the total state budget; and
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79	79	WHEREAS, the total administrative cost savings from the use of a single-payer administrator could add up to a reduction in the State's health care costs in the range of thirty percent or more, reducing the total state budget by around nine percent; and
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83	83	WHEREAS, Act 11, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, established the Hawaii Health Authority (HHA), codified at chapter 322H, Hawaii Revised Statutes, with a mission to develop a comprehensive plan for a universal health care system covering all residents of the State, but the HHA is currently inactive; now, therefore,
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87	87	BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that this body supports the reactivation of the Hawaii Health Authority with statutory mandates that specifically include the transition of the State's health insurance payment system into a single-payer health care system, to be implemented after waivers for Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare have been obtained and all sources of federal funding for these programs have been exhausted; and
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93	93	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, Director of Budget and Finance, and Insurance Commissioner.
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101	101	OFFERED BY: _____________________________
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105	105	OFFERED BY:
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119	119	Report Title:
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121	121	Hawaii Health Authority; Single-payer Health Care System; Legislature; Waivers; Medicaid; Medicare; Tricare