HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	9
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT A SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL ASSESSMENT OF PROPOSED MANDATORY HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE.

 

 

 

        WHEREAS, Hawaii has long been a leader in advancing reproductive rights and advocating for equitable and affordable access to sexual and reproductive health care; and

 

        WHEREAS, federal protections for abortion, preventative care, contraceptives, and other sexual and reproductive health care services are consistently threatened, making state protections for these services especially critical; and

 

        WHEREAS, other states have enacted laws that effectively eliminate abortion access in the states, reflecting a broad strategy to challenge and overturn the United States Supreme Court's holding in Roe v. Wade, which protects abortion access; and

 

        WHEREAS, the Trump administration made it difficult for insurers to cover abortion care and assembled a Supreme Court that may restrict abortion access and strike down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; and

 

        WHEREAS, eliminating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would force many Hawaii residents to pay more out-of-pocket health care costs, leading many to delay or forego needed care; and

 

        WHEREAS, access to sexual and reproductive health care, including no-cost preventive services, is critical for the health and economic security of all people in Hawaii and will help avoid more costly treatments in the future; and

 

        WHEREAS, House Bill No. 249, originally introduced during the Regular Session of 2021, would prohibit discrimination in the provision of sexual and reproductive health care services and requires health insurers, mutual benefit societies, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage without cost-sharing for a range of reproductive health services, drugs, devices, products, and procedures; and

 

        WHEREAS, section 23-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires that, before considering any legislative measure that mandates health insurance coverage for specific health services, specific diseases, or certain providers of health care services as part of individual or group health insurance policies, the Legislature shall pass a concurrent resolution asking the Auditor to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report that assesses the social and financial effects of the proposed mandatory coverage; now, therefore,

 

        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a social and financial assessment of House Bill No. 249, which was introduced during the Regular Session of 2021; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to submit a report of the Auditor's findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and Insurance Commissioner.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Auditor; Reproductive Health; Protections