Bill Text: HI HB608 | 2011 | Regular Session | Amended

Hawaii House Bill 608 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Kidney; Liver; Transplants; Appropriation

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2011-04-29 - (H) Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 04-29-11 11:00AM in conference room 229. [HB608 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-HB608-Amended.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	608
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011		H.D. 3
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO HEALTH.

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

Section 1. The legislature finds that organ transplantation is a life-saving therapy for many critically ill patients with end-stage diseases. More than one hundred ten thousand patients are on the national organ transplant waiting list; four hundred seven of those patients are Hawaii residents. The legislature further finds that, statewide, there is only one Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-certified organ transplant facility for liver and kidney transplants, where dozens of transplantations are performed each year. In addition, patients who have received an organ transplant continue to receive monitoring and follow-up care from medical staff, physicians, and surgeons after the patient's operation.

Individuals diagnosed with a potentially preventable chronic disease represent a sizable percentage of those waiting for an organ. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as tobacco use, poor diet, and lack of physical activity may lead to chronic illness of the kidney and liver which, if left unmanaged, could ultimately impair organ function and lead to organ failure and the need for transplantation. Furthermore, genetic predisposition and environmental influences leading to unhealthy behaviors can interact to accelerate and exacerbate the process. Since approximately ninety per cent of the people on the waiting list for an organ transplant in Hawaii have kidney failure, and since it is clear that it is possible to slow or even reverse the progression of chronic kidney disease, the focus on prevention as part of the solution must be included.

The legislature further finds that funding is crucial to maintain a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-certified kidney and liver transplant facility in Hawaii, as well as to maintain a federally-recognized stage 3 chronic kidney disease program focused on prevention for disparate populations in Hawaii. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-certified organ transplant program provides an important public resource to the State and to many organ transplant patients and recipients in Hawaii.

Without an operational organ transplant center, patients with end-stage diseases would be forced to register on transplant waiting lists for mainland transplant centers, many of which have a longer waiting time to receive a donor organ than in Hawaii. The increased waiting time for an organ may mean that the sickest of those patients may not survive long enough for a donor organ to become available. In addition to increased waiting time, many waitlisted patients in Hawaii would have the additional burden of relocating to other areas of the country, away from friends and family, while awaiting a donor organ and during their recovery.

The purpose of this Act is to appropriate moneys, subject to dollar-for-dollar private matching funds, to sustain Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-certified organ transplant operations in Hawaii and maintain a federally-recognized chronic kidney disease management program.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2011-2012 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2012-2013 to support ongoing services provided by a qualified provider with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services certification to perform kidney and liver transplants in Hawaii and to support a federally-recognized chronic kidney disease management program; provided that no funds appropriated under this section shall be expended unless matched dollar-for-dollar with private funds; provided further that any private matching funds obtained for the purposes of this Act shall have priority in being encumbered over public funds.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of health for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2040.

Report Title:

Kidney; Liver; Transplants; Appropriation

Description:

Appropriates funds, subject to dollar-for-dollar private matching funds, to be expended by the Department of Health to support ongoing services provided by a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-certified kidney and liver transplant provider in Hawaii, and to support a federally-recognized chronic kidney disease management program. Effective July 1, 2040. (SD1)

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