Bill Text: HI SB489 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Traffic Safety; Communications Service; Traffic Safety Injury Prevention and Treatment Surcharge; Trauma System Special Fund; John A. Burns School of Medicine Special Fund

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-06 - The committee on TIA deferred the measure. [SB489 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-SB489-Introduced.html

---

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	489
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to traffic safety.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that between 2007 and 2011, motor vehicle crashes were the third most frequent type of unintentional injury death in Hawaii.  During this time, there were six hundred thirty-five combined vehicular deaths that accounted for thirty per cent of unintentional injury deaths.

     The legislature further finds that each year, there are more than four thousand nonfatal injuries among car occupants in Hawaii.  The costs associated with these nonfatal injuries are high, with nearly $46,000 in average medical charges per patient.  Furthermore, the annual costs for emergency department visits and hospitalizations associated with nonfatal motor vehicle occupant injuries in Hawaii averaged $28,600,000 a year between 2007 and 2011.

     The legislature additionally finds that traffic safety injury prevention strategies can include educational campaigns, personal protective equipment, law enforcement initiatives, and engineering.  Treatment for traffic related injuries can include appropriate rehabilitative services, healthcare workforce development training programs, and support for telemedicine networks in all communities.  However, these prevention strategies and treatment related programs require money to design, implement, and evaluate.

     The legislature also finds that between 2007 and 2010, inattentive or distracted driving was the third most common contributing factor in fatal car crashes in Hawaii.  Distracted driving often occurs because of cell phone use.  Therefore, a surcharge on communications service connections could be used to promote traffic safety injury prevention and treatment-related programs.

     The purpose of this Act is to establish a traffic safety injury prevention and treatment surcharge on each communications service connection, with revenue collected from the surcharge to be deposited equally between the trauma system special fund and the John A. Burns school of medicine special fund.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 291C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part I to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§291C-    Traffic safety injury prevention and treatment surcharge.  (a)  A monthly traffic safety injury prevention and treatment surcharge shall be imposed upon each communications service connection, except connections of the public utility providing telecommunications services and land line enhanced 911 services through section 269-16.95.

     (b)  The rate of the surcharge shall be set at 66 cents per month for each communications service connection.  The surcharge shall have uniform application and shall be imposed on each communications service connection operating within the State except:

     (1)  Connections billed to federal, state, and county governmental entities; and

     (2)  Prepaid connections.

     (c)  All communications service providers and resellers shall bill to and collect from each of their customers a monthly surcharge at the rate established for each communications service connection.  The communications service provider or reseller may list the surcharge as a separate line item on each bill.  If a communications service provider or reseller receives a partial payment for a monthly bill from a communications service customer, the communications service provider or reseller shall apply the payment against the amount the customer owes the communications service provider or reseller, before applying the partial payment against the surcharge.

     (d)  Each communications service provider or reseller may retain up to two per cent of the amount of surcharges collected to offset administrative expenses associated with billing and collecting the surcharge.

     (e)  Within sixty days after the end of the calendar month in which the surcharge is collected, an amount that represents the surcharges collected less amounts retained for administrative expenses incurred, as provided in subsection (d), shall be remitted by the communications service provider or reseller as follows:

     (1)  Fifty per cent to the trauma system special fund established pursuant to section 321-22.5; and

     (2)  Fifty per cent to the John A. Burns school of medicine special fund, established pursuant to section 304A‑2171.

     (f)  The surcharges collected by the communications service provider or reseller pursuant to this section shall not be subject to any tax, fee, or assessment, nor are the surcharges considered revenue of the provider or reseller.

     (g)  Each customer who is subject to this section shall be liable to the State for the surcharge until it has been paid to the communications service provider.  Communications service providers shall have no liability to remit surcharges that have not been paid by customers.  A communications service provider or reseller shall have no obligation to take any legal action to enforce the collection of the surcharge for which any customer is billed.  However, the department of health or the University of Hawaii may initiate a collection action against the customer.  If the department of health or the University of Hawaii prevails in such a collection action, reasonable attorney's fees and costs shall be awarded.

     (h)  As used in this section, "communications service connection", "communications service provider", "prepaid connection", and "reseller" shall have the same meanings as in section 138-1."

     SECTION 3.  Section 321-22.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§321-22.5  Trauma system special fund[.]; surcharge special account.  (a)  There is established within the state treasury a special fund to be known as the trauma system special fund to be administered and expended by the department of health.  The fund shall consist of:

     (1)  Surcharges collected pursuant to sections 291-15, 291C-2, 291C-  , and 291E-7;

     (2)  Cigarette tax revenues designated under section 245‑15;

     (3)  Federal funds granted by Congress or executive order for the purpose of this chapter; provided that the acceptance and use of federal funds shall not commit state funds for services and shall not place an obligation upon the legislature to continue the purpose for which the federal funds are made available;

     (4)  Funds appropriated by the legislature for this purpose, including grants-in-aid;

     (5)  Grants, donations, and contributions from private or public sources for the purposes of the trauma system special fund; and

     (6)  Interest on and other income from the fund, which shall be separately accounted for.

     Moneys in the trauma system special fund shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year.  Expenditures from the trauma system special fund shall be exempt from chapters 103D and 103F.

     (b)  The moneys in the trauma system special fund shall be used by the department to support the continuing development and operation of a comprehensive state trauma system[.]; provided that surcharges collected pursuant to section 291C-   shall be used to support public health educational campaigns, rehabilitative services, healthcare workforce development training programs, and telemedicine networks as specified in subsection (c).  The trauma system special fund shall be used to subsidize the documented costs for the comprehensive state trauma system, including but not limited to the following:

     (1)  Costs of under-compensated and uncompensated trauma care incurred by hospitals providing care to trauma patients;

     (2)  Costs incurred by hospitals providing care to trauma patients to maintain on-call physicians for trauma care; and

     (3)  Costs to staff and operate the State's injury prevention program.

     The money in the trauma system special fund shall not be used to supplant funding for trauma services authorized prior to July 1, 2006, and shall not be used for ambulance or medical air transport services.

     (c)  Revenue generated from the traffic safety injury prevention and treatment surcharge pursuant to section 291C-  , shall be deposited into a special account in the trauma system special fund.  Moneys from the special account shall be used to fund:

     (1)  Public health educational campaigns related to traffic safety injury prevention;

     (2)  Rehabilitative services including patient and caregiver counseling, education, and training;

     (3)  Healthcare workforce development training programs associated with an accredited university; and

     (4)  Support for telemedicine networks in all communities to ensure access to specialty care.

     [(c)] (d)  Disbursements from the fund shall be made in accordance with a methodology established by the department of health to calculate costs incurred by a hospital providing care to trauma patients that are eligible to receive reimbursement under subsection [(d).] (b), (c), or (e).  The methodology shall take into account:

     (1)  Physician on-call coverage that is demonstrated to be essential for trauma services within the hospital;

     (2)  Equipment that is demonstrated to be essential for trauma services within the hospital;

     (3)  The creation of overflow or surge capacity to allow a trauma center to respond to mass casualties resulting from an act of terrorism or natural disaster; and

     (4)  All other hospital services and resources that are demonstrated to be essential for trauma services within the hospital.

     The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to effectuate the purposes of this section.

     [(d)] (e)  To receive reimbursement, a hospital providing care to trauma patients shall apply to the trauma system special fund on a form and in a manner approved by the department; provided that recipients of reimbursements from the trauma system special fund shall be subject to the following conditions:

     (1)  The recipient of a reimbursement shall:

         (A)  Comply with applicable federal, state, and county laws;

         (B)  Comply with any other requirements the director may prescribe;

         (C)  Allow the director, the legislative bodies, and the state auditor access to records, reports, files, and other related documents, to the extent permissible under applicable state and federal law, so that the program, management, and fiscal practices of the recipient may be monitored and evaluated to ensure the proper and effective expenditure of public funds;

         (D)  Provide care to all injured patients regardless of their ability to pay; and

         (E)  Participate in data collection and peer review activities for the purpose of system evaluation and improvement of patient care; and

     (2)  Every reimbursement shall be monitored according to rules established by the director under chapter 91 to ensure compliance with this section.

     [(e)] (f)  Necessary administrative expenses to carry out this section shall not exceed five per cent of the total amount collected in any given year.

     [(f)] (g)  The department shall submit an annual report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session that outlines the receipts of and expenditures from the trauma system special fund.

     [(g)] (h)  For the purposes of this section:

     "Comprehensive state trauma system" means a coordinated integrated system providing a spectrum of medical care throughout the State designed to reduce death and disability by appropriate and timely diagnosis and specialized treatment of injuries, which includes hospitals with successive levels of advanced capabilities for trauma care in accordance with nationally accepted standards established by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.

     "Hospital providing care to trauma patients" means a hospital with emergency services that receives and treats injured patients.

     "Trauma care" means specialized medical care intended to reduce death and disability from injuries.

     "Trauma center" means a facility verified by the American College of Surgeons or designated by the department applying American College of Surgeons recommendations as guidelines as being a level I, level II, level III, or level IV trauma center.  Level I represents the highest level attainable by a verified trauma center, and level IV represents the lowest level attainable by a verified trauma center."

     SECTION 4.  Section 304A-2171, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§304A-2171  John A. Burns school of medicine special fund.  (a)  There is established the John A. Burns school of medicine special fund, to be administered and expended by the University of Hawaii.

     (b)  The following shall be deposited into the special fund:

     (1)  Appropriations by the legislature;

     (2)  Physician workforce assessment fees established pursuant to section 453-8.8;

     (3)  Grants, donations, gifts, or other income received for the purposes of the special fund; [and]

     (4)  Surcharges collected pursuant to section 291C-  ; and

    [(4)] (5)  Interest earned or accrued on moneys in the special fund.

     (c)  Moneys in the special fund shall be used to support the John A. Burns school of medicine's activities related to physician workforce assessment and planning within Hawaii; provided that of the physician workforce assessment fees transferred and deposited into the special fund pursuant to section 453‑8.8, no less than fifty per cent of the total amount of assessment fees deposited shall be used for purposes identified by the Hawaii medical education council to support physician workforce assessment and planning efforts, including the recruitment and retention of physicians, for rural and medically underserved areas of the State; provided further that expenditures from the special fund shall be limited to no more than $245,000 annually.  This shall include but not be limited to maintaining accurate physician workforce assessment information and providing or updating personal and professional information, that shall be maintained in a secure database.  The John A. Burns school of medicine may disclose information specific to any physician only with the express written consent of that physician.

     (d)  Moneys transferred and deposited into the special fund pursuant to section 291C-   shall be used to support the John A. Burns school of medicine's medical residency program and activities related to education and training for trauma care, rehabilitative care, and emergency medical services."

     SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2013.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Traffic Safety; Communications Service; Traffic Safety Injury Prevention and Treatment Surcharge; Trauma System Special Fund; John A. Burns School of Medicine Special Fund

 

Description:

Establishes a traffic safety injury prevention and treatment surcharge on each communications service connection, with revenue collected from the surcharge to be deposited equally between the trauma system special fund and the John A. Burns school of medicine special fund.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.