HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	131
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

suggesting the deferral of H.B. NO. 2529 and requesting a proposal from the hawaii health connector and insurance division for the orderly winding down of the state exchange and implementation of the federal exchange.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) authorized states to create health insurance exchanges to implement certain health insurance reforms within PPACA; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2011, in response to PPACA's authorization, Hawaii established the Hawaii Health Connector as a private nonprofit entity to serve as Hawaii's health insurance exchange and implement certain health insurance reforms within PPACA; and

 

     WHEREAS, PPACA requires state health insurance exchanges, including the Hawaii Health Connector, to be self-sustaining by January 1, 2015; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Health Connector, like most state and federal exchanges nationwide, has faced considerable implementation challenges and obstacles to marketplace adoption; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Interim Director of the Hawaii Health Connector has testified to the Legislature that due to the longstanding success of Hawaii's Prepaid Health Care Act, Hawaii does not have a sufficient number of uninsured to keep the Connector sustainable either as a private nonprofit or state-run entity; and

 

     WHEREAS, spending substantial State funds to bail out the Connector and bring it under the State's control is not fiscally prudent, as additional money will not change the core market dynamics working against the Connector; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's insurers cannot absorb the surcharges being proposed, with the result that those costs will ultimately be passed on to the consumer in the way of higher rates; and

     WHEREAS, the House Committees on Health, Consumer Protection & Commerce, and Finance are commended for their leadership, diligence, and innovation in working to address the obstacles the Hawaii Health Connector is presently encountering; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Health Connector's narrow but valuable role should be as its name suggests: educating consumers and connecting them with the best available health insurance options; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Health Connector is already acting as an information gateway, and it can continue doing so at a fraction of the current expense if the State Exchange is eliminated in favor of participation in the Federal Exchange; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, that H.B. No. 2529 be deferred; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Health Connector and Insurance Division are requested to propose a plan for:

 

     (1)  An orderly winding down of the State Exchange and implementation of the Federal Exchange while preserving the Prepaid Health Care Act; and

 

     (2)  Future functioning of the Hawaii Health Connector strictly as an informational resource to Hawaii consumers; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Health Connector and the Insurance Division are requested to submit their proposal to the Legislature within 90 days of the adoption of this Resolution; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Interim Executive Director of the Hawaii Health Connector and Insurance Commissioner.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Hawaii Health Connector; Federal Exchange