House Standing Committee on Health

Good morning and welcome to the Committee on Health. Today is Friday, March 21st. The time now is 9:30. We are in Conference Room 3329. Here in Committee we have our Chair, Representative Takayama, and Member Martens. I am Sue Keohokapu-Lee Loy, presiding officer on this hearing. Today, just a little bit of housekeeping.

As is tradition here in the Health Committee, I will be asking for testifiers to limit their testimonies to two minutes. Because we are a morning hearing. Morning hearing we must adjourn prior to floor session so all testifiers may not have the opportunity to testify.

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If we could start, Members, at the top of our agenda. We have House HCR 28, HR 27, requesting the Department of Health to reconvene the working group established pursuant to House Resolution 18, House Draft 1 from Session 2024 to convene the efforts to to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation arising from operations of the Puuloa Range Training Facility. Going to our testifiers. Let's see. We have Liam Chinn in support on Zoom. Not present. Thank you. Wayne Chung Tanaka, Sierra Club Hawaii, in support. Welcome. Thank you.

Thank you. Good morning, Chair Takayama, Vice Chair Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Members of the Committee. Wayne Tanaka with the Sierra Club of Hawaii. I'll just be real brief. I just want to thank you so much for hearing this resolution. You know, this is major concern for folks in Ewa Beach.

But I want to emphasize this is not just the Ewa Beach issue. Right. People from all over come to go to Puuloa to recreate, to fish, surf and so forth, and they may be being exposed these lead and heavy metals surrounding the training facility. And those most vulnerable to these lifelong impacts of lead exposure are keiki. Right.

Children and unborn children as well. And throughout their lives, they're going to spread out throughout our society and community. And so what happens to them is going to impact our communities at large. So just with that, I just want to thank you again so much for hearing this resolution, and happy to answer any questions.

Thank you so much for being here. I have a Laura Nakanelua, individual in support on Zoom. Not present. Michael Plowman, individual in support on Zoom. That's all I have on my list. Anyone else in the room wishing to testify?

Hi, I was. I had registered to testify by Zoom. Liam Chinn.

Oh, great. Please proceed.

Okay, great. Thank you so much. I highly encourage passage of this resolution. I lived in Ewa Beach for years next to the shooting range and also served on Ewa Neighborhood Board. And during my time there, we were alarmed at the multiple tests that were done, clearly revealing significant lead contamination.

In the shooting range berms that are immediately abutting houses. Less than 100ft away, there's houses. And the Surfrider Foundation had conclusive evidence. The Marine Corps was skeptical, did their own tests just this last year that also confirmed significant contamination. So this working group is absolutely critical.

The Department of Health themselves have highly recommended further testing and investigation for wind blown dust and other vectors and pathways through which the lead could enter the community. So I highly encourage passage. We need this in Ewa Beach to protect the keiki, to protect pregnant mothers from lead contamination.

And I just want to remind everybody here that the Senate and the House voted unanimously on a resolution in 2023 to relocate this range to a more appropriate location away from communities. And in that resolution, multiple threats were mentioned, from lead contamination to extreme noise pollution to ricochet bullets. And that hasn't changed.

But what, but what's unfortunate is very little movement has taken place. So we need this working group as a mechanism to actually move things forward so we can relocate this range away from this densely populated neighborhood. Thank you so much for protecting the people of Ewa Beach and passing this resolution.

Thank you, Mr. Chinn. We also have in support Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party, Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition, Free Access Coalition, Shimanchu Wai Protectors, and 25 other individuals in support. Members, any questions, comments? Great, thank you.

All right, Members, moving on to house Concurrent Resolution 25, requesting the Auditor to access the social and financial effects of, of mandatory health insurance coverage for biomarker testing. Yeah. House Concurrent Resolution 35. Did I say that right? 35. I said 25 to deny. Mr. Chair, thanks for being patient with me, guys.

My first time here testifying, I have Seen State Department, State Health Planning and Development Agency, Dr. Jack John Lewin in person.

Aloha, Vice Chair Keohokapu Lee Loy, Chair Takayama. Yes. We'll stand on our testimony supporting this auditor's report. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. In support, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Cynthia Al.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members, Cynthia Al. On behalf of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, or ACS, can we stand in strong support of this Concurrent Resolution? Biomarker testing can be used to determine the best treatment for a patient and is key to getting the patients the right treatment at the right time.

Insurance is not keeping up to date with the advances in science, and 20 states have passed legislation. So we hope that you'll support an Auditor's report to study the social and financial impacts of this important bill that we want to move forward in the future. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss.

And available for questions.

Great. Thank you. On Zoom, Pedro Haro. Not present. Let's see. All right, that's all I have on my testifiers list. Anyone else here present wishing to testify on zoom?

Members, any questions? Loving this. Thank you. All right, moving on. Members. We're doing house Concurrent Resolution 36, requesting the Auditor to assist social and financial effects of the proposed health insurance coverage for colorectal cancer screening. I have again Department of Health comments in person.

Good morning, Chairs, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, I'm Lola Ervin representing the Department of Health. So the Department of Health really wants to help optimize people's health equally. And so we provide comments on HCR36.

Personally, I like to say that we like to start as a twinkle in one somebody else's eyes, and then we end with a twinkle at the end, which means we have to have quality of life in between. Right. And screening is part of that.

If we have early screening and detection, then our prospects for living long, healthy lives is much improved. So we do provide comments so that you have the data. So the screening guidelines changed. So we start screening as early as age 45 for colorectal cancer up to age 75. And so that changed in 2020.

And what happened is, I mean, 2021, but in 2020. 70% of people aged 45 to 75 reported meeting the new colorectal guidelines. By 2022, it went down to 67%. Then when we asked and we had enough numbers for the response rate, asking about health care coverage in 2020. 71% of people said they met the guidelines.

Those who didn't have health care coverage, only 42% said they got screened. So we hope that this data will be helpful for you as you make your decision. So thank you for the opportunity to provide comments.

Thank you for being here. State Health Planning and Development Agency Dr. Jack Lewin in person.

Good morning again. Vice Chair Chair Members. Colores cancer is a preventable disease, but we have to screen for it. One of the issues related to this is that there are a whole variety of approaches to screening.

And I point out in the testimony here that the county system in Los Angeles actually went through a whole elaborate process to determine how best to go about the screening process. We should do that here in Hawaii, too. Hopefully this Auditor's report will help us with that.

Simply because there's occult blood tests, there's colonoscopy, there's a variety of other imaging approaches and scope approaches to this. But we really need to reach out to more people and make sure the screening occurs. So look forward to this Auditor's report and for implementing a better program in Hawaii. Thank you.

Thank you, Doctor. Also, I have Oncology Nursing Society in support, Hawaii Parkinson's Association in support, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party in support, Liberty Dialysis in support, American Cancer Society. Cynthia Au in person.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair and Committee Members. Cynthia Al on behalf of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, or ACSCAN we stand in strong support of this Concurrent Resolution? Colorectal cancer is a second leading cause of death cancer deaths in the US and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in Hawaii.

And I just wanted to emphasize that Hawaii ranks the 12th highest in new colorectal cancer cases in the US between 2019-2023. And we're actually ranked in like 20, the 50th or we are. We have 58% of people who when they get colorectal, when they finally get screened, they're already in late stages.

So we hope that this, you can support this for an Auditor's report so we can try to support those who want to get their screenings. Thank you.

Thank you. I have Malama, Ike Ola in support and five additional individuals in support. Anyone else in the room wishing to testify? Anyone on Zoom? All right. Seeing none. Thank you, Members.

Members, we'll be moving on to House Concurrent Resolution 91 House Resolution 87, requesting health insurers and managed care providers that provide health insurance in the state to provide insurance coverage for prosthetic and orthotic devices. I have one testifier on Zoom. Meg Severn? Okay, thank you. All right.

I might mention that because she called our office, she is actually in Japan, which is four hours earlier than Hawaii, so there may have been either a technical or a physiological problem, but she is in support.

Great, thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify here in person? Anyone else on Zoom? Alrighty, members, any comments? Okay, members, moving on. House Concurrent Resolution 134 requesting the auditor to contact an impact statement of a limiting cost sharing for certain diagnostic and supplemental breast examinations. I have testifiers on Zoom. Connor Sweeney?

Yes, I'm here. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, committee members, for the opportunity to testify this morning. Again, my name is Connor Sweeney. I'm with the Susan G. Common Foundation. We're a nationwide breast cancer nonprofit. Now, we're in strong support of HCR 134. What we're looking at here is a financial barrier to early breast cancer diagnosis.

This resolution asked the State Auditor to assess the impacts of cost sharing for diagnostic and supplemental imaging for breast cancer. So what does that mean exactly? Let's just say someone goes in for their routine screening mammogram, which are covered for most individuals at no cost to the patient.

And during that screening, an abnormality is detected, but the radiologist or the provider is unable to determine whether that abnormality is cancer from that image alone. Typically, the patient would then be asked to go in for what's called diagnostic imaging. That could be an mri, a diagnostic mammogram, or an ultrasound.

Usually, since we've technically moved on from screening to the diagnostic stage, those follow up services can come with substantial out of pocket costs for the patient. And we conducted a study that found that these can range from a few $100 to over 1,000.

So, as you can imagine, the substantial out of pocket cost can deter folks from following through with the diagnosis process. So we're seeing situations where folks are being told they have an abnormality on their mammogram, but they then can't afford to follow up with the procedures to rule out or confirm a breast cancer diagnosis.

If it is in fact breast cancer, that person is also delaying the start of their treatment and putting their life at serious risk. So the policy proposal that we're asking the Auditor to review here is the impact of removing cost sharing for those medically necessary diagnostic follow ups.

That way, the entire screening process is covered at no cost. Just like the initial mammogram was so. So we're not talking about requiring any new coverage, but rather just an adjustment to the cost sharing for existing services.

We believe, and we hope that these findings will reflect the findings of studies conducted by my own organization and others like the American Cancer Society, which have shown that this policy will save lives by promoting early detection.

And that also ultimately saves money since breast cancer is far less expensive to treat when it is diagnosed and treated at the localized stage. Strongly urge your support and thank you again for the opportunity to speak. I'm more than happy to answer any questions that come up. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. I also have Hawaii State Commission and Status on Women in support. Office of the Auditor with comments. Hawaii Radiological Society in support. Hawaii Medical Association support. Hawaii Committee of the Democratic Party in support. And 5- 4 other individuals in support. Any members in the audience wishing to testify? Anyone on Zoom?

We didn't submit a testimony, but we certainly support this.

Thank you. Thank you, Doctor. Alrighty. Any--members, any comments? Questions? Okay, members. Moving on: House Concurrent Resolution 171, requesting the auditor to assess the social and financial effects of proposed mandatory health insurance coverage for continuous glucose monitoring. Let's see. Testifiers: Daintry Bartoldus, State Council on Developmental Disabilities.

We'll stand on our written testimony in support. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Dr. Jack Lewin, in support.

Stand on our written testimony in support, strong support. Thank you.

Great. Lisa Rantz, Hilo Benioff Medical Center Foundation, in support on Zoom. Great. Oh, Kylie, individual in support on Zoom. Not present. Also, we have Hawaii Medical Association, in support. Liberty Dialysis, in support. That's all the testifiers I have on my list. Anyone here in the room wishing to testify? Anyone on Zoom? Thank you, members. Okay, moving on.

House Concurrent Resolution 185 requesting the Auditor to conduct a social and financial assessment of proposed mandatory health insurance coverage for Native Hawaiian healing and cultural practitioners offered through federal qualified health centers. Alrighty. I have Ke'Opu Reelitz. Papa Olokahi on Zoom.

Aloha. My name is Ke'Opu Reelitz. I'm the Director of Policy and advocacy or Policy and Strategy for the Papa Ololokahi. We stand on our written testimony.

We just want to highlight that in our role as a Native Hawaiian Health board for nearly 40 years, one of our Kuleana is two to promote, preserve and protect traditional Native Hawaiian healing.

And so in that work, one of the things that we just wanted to highlight for the Committee is the ways in which insurance and reimbursements conversations for traditional Hawaiian healing have been interwoven with registration and licensure conversations so as you continue to discuss this resolution, one of the things we ask that you consider is the ways in which the traditional Hawaiian healers and those communities are at the center of the conversations.

So if you have any questions, I'm here to answer them. But we mostly just stand on our written testimony offering comments.

That's all I have on my testifiers list. Anyone else here in the room wishing to testify? Anyone else? Oh, please step forward. Introduce yourself.

Aloha Chair Takayama and Vice Chair Keohokapu-Lee Loy. I'm Keo. Hello. I'm a Kanaka Molly College junior from Waimanalo. I'm here today to express my support for House Concurrent Resolution 185. For me, traditional care has been effective throughout my life. As an athlete, I've often used Lomi Lomi services for physical and muscle relief.

Growing up, I've also seen how practices like Laaulapao, olena cream and noni have been effective in treating sicknesses. In my ohana. Me, along with the vast majority of the Waimanalo community, benefit greatly from the Native Hawaiian healing methods that the Waimanalo Health center provides.

These time honored methods are not only culturally significant but also provide practical, accessible care that complements modern health care. Their focus on holistic well being, Lao Lapao services and Aipono have played effective roles in many Native Hawaiian healths. I am fortunate to have access to these services throughout my local health center.

However, many others across the state do not. HCR 185 would pave the way to making these services more accessible. As someone who worked in electoral politics supporting Indigenous voters, I believe that HCR paves the way in emphasizing the value of traditional practices and the inclusion of Indigenous voices and policymaking.

We have seen strong implementation of Native healing practices with Indigenous tribal nations on the continent. In Alaska and New Mexico these services have been proven to have satisfactory well being rates in regards to his patients. By reinforcing Native Hawaiian healing methods, we are part of a broader movement that promotes sustainable, culturally sensitive health care solutions.

I respectfully urge the Committee to support HCR185 ensuring that our community's time tested practices continue to thrive and inspire future generations. Mahalo.

Thank you for being here. Anyone else in the room wishing to testify on house Concurrent Resolution 185? Last call. Alrighty Members.

Moving on to our last item on the agenda, House Concurrent Resolution 173 House Resolution 169, urging the Department of Health to undertake preliminary education, outreach, and vaccination drive efforts at schools in Hawaii with vaccination rates under 50%, prioritizing schools with vaccination rates under 30%, beginning at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Alrighty. Here in person, in support, Daintry Bartoldus, State Council for Developmental Disabilities.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, committee members. My name is Che Silvert with the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities, here for Daintry Bartoldus. We're going to stand on our written testimony in support. We just wanted to highlight that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often the vulnerable of the vulnerable population, and when it comes to vaccines, if we drop below herd immunity, our population literally doesn't get to leave their homes.

They oftentimes have health-compromised issues and so they can't get vaccinations and so when we drop below, they literally just don't get to live their lives. So we're in strong support. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you for being here. Keith Hayashi, Department of Education, in support. Department of Health, in support. Thank you for being here.

Aloha, chair and vice chair and members of the committee. My name is Ron Balajadia. I'm the Immunization Branch Chief at the Department of Health. The department is in support of HCR 173, and as Hawaii faces declining immunization rates, the department agrees that efforts to improve education, outreach, access, and availability of immunizations as components of a long-term plan to counter vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccination rates across schools are critically important to protect our keiki and communities from the increasing incidences of vaccine-preventable diseases.

We are appreciative of the Legislature's concerns and welcome the opportunity for increased fiscal and administrative support for these efforts. The department is actively partnering with interested DOE, charter and private schools, and community vaccination partners to revive and expand the former Stop Flu in School program to offer all immunizations required for school entry and attendance.

As urged by HCR 1C3, the department will prioritize outreach to schools with immunization rates under 30%. The department also appreciates the information provided in HCR 1C3 regarding immunization education and outreach efforts in other states and will follow up to evaluate their program planning efforts, coordination costs, implementation plans, and number of staff required to develop content and oversee operations. Thank you for this opportunity to testify on this measure, and I'm here to answer any questions. Mahalo.

Great. Thank you for being here. Let's see. State Planning Health--State Health Planning and Development Agency, in support. Dr. Lewin.

Aloha, again, chair, vice chair, and members. SHPD would just comment that under 50% rate of immunization is almost a shocking failure to prevent outbreaks in the state, so we'd really like to--I think we might want to consider a media kind of campaign for Department of Health to really reach out there and it's probably worth it at this time to educate people and bring the facts forward and to do that to protect our society. So that might be a better approach in the future. Thank you.

Great. Thank you for being here. Let's see. On Zoom, Jamie Detwiler, in opposition.

Sorry, trying to unmute here.

Thanks for being here. Please proceed.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Jamie Detwiler, Hawaiian Islands Republican Women, in strong opposition. The bottom line up front here is vaccine drives do not belong in schools. Schools would be better off concentrating on their classical curriculum--reading, writing, and arithmetic--and perhaps weave into your healthcare education a module on health practices, building immunities.

The other thing I would like to mention is this is government overreach. Parents and guardians go with their child to their well checkups--well-being checkups--every year, and that discussion is between the parents and the pediatrician. The pediatrician does the education to the parents and parents are given informed consent. We are not opposed to vaccines.

We are opposed to the government overreach. Also, one can't help think about Big Pharma involvement with the Department of Health, and I hope that is not the case. Thank you for this opportunity to testify, and please focus education on well-being and health and how to build our immunes--our natural immune systems. Mahalo.

Thank you so much. I have Noella Van Waikan--I'm not sure if I'm seeing that right--on Zoom.

Aloha, chair, members of the committee. I'm Judith Clark, and I am testifying today as a concerned individual rather than the capacity that I usually appear at the Capitol. As a public health professional and concerned citizen, I strongly support efforts to increase vaccination rates for children in our schools.

Vaccinations save lives, not only for the children who receive them, but for other vulnerable individuals. Vaccines protect those who, due to allergies or other medical conditions, cannot receive vaccinations. My great grandmother became deaf at the age of five from an illness that is preventable today. My grandmother had diphtheria as a child.

She had lifelong lung damage and disability. I was a child in a time when measles, mumps, polio, and rubella vaccines did not yet exist. I did not enjoy my experiences with measles and mumps, and I had friends whose experiences with polio changed their lives forever. Children deserve to grow up safe and healthy, and vaccines help us achieve that goal. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.

Thank you so much. Here, I have Cheryl Toyofuku, in person. Thank you for being here. Please proceed.

Aloha, Chair Takayama and Representatives of the Health Committee. My name is Cheryl Toyofuku, and I'm in strong opposition of this resolution, and it's because the main reason is Department of Health's concern about decreased vaccination rates due to vaccination hesitancy. So the big question is why are people of Hawaii hesitant now about vaccines?

You know, on their own, parents--without help from the Department of Health--researched and informed parents are now truly trying to keep their children healthy and safe with choices to not vaccinate. They understand now that vaccines build artificial herd immunity based on flawed science.

So the VAERS, which is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, and the vaccine death reports reveal a phenomenal increase in detrimental effects of toxic vaccines with often severe neurological immune disorders, autism, myocarditis, and death.

Parents are also opting out of following the flawed science of herd immunity with the Department of Health's solution of promoting artificial immunity with toxic vaccine ingredients such as heavy metals, animal viruses, aborted fetal cell lines, polysorbate 80, which causes cancer, antibiotics, MRNA that alters the human genetic code.

So this resolution of promoting outreach and vaccination drive efforts at schools in Hawaii will mean educating about an unhealthy vaccine agenda at any school. This is a misguided and a poor use of valuable funding, time, and resources. This is furthering agendas towards mandating vaccines maybe without informed consent or without freedom of choice.

The Department of Health and Education should better use the resources towards programs of healthy nutrients and exercise to build our keiki's immune system which is a healthier way to achieve herd immunity against diseases.

More evidence proves that nutrition like Vitamin A for measles, Vitamin C for tetanus, Vitamins D and zinc, elderberry, echinacea for colds and building our natural immune system along with cultural herb remedies. We, we all deeply love our keiki and we desire for all of them to have healthy and abundant lives.

So as an RN, as a mom, as a grandmother, we are called to mentor and train them. It is the parents' duty and responsibility, not the government's. This is government overreach and it is undermining our parental rights. Please do not pass this through. Thank you.

Thank you for being here. I have Coach Gilman. Not present. Kim Kardaria. Did I say that right? I apologize if not. Cordery.

Good morning. My name is Kim Cordery, and I am opposed to this bill. Actually, this is a resolution. I am opposed to this resolution. In regards to vaccines, herd immunity is a logical fallacy. As the word immunity implies, immunity must be obtained in order for it to be a valid argument.

Not one vaccine has ever shown scientific proof of immunity. There have been many studies showing the production of antibodies after vaccination, but the mere existence of antibodies does not equal immunity. Therefore, if you cannot reach immunity by vaccines, then herd immunity by vaccination is an impossibility.

I stand by my written testimony as well, and I am completely opposed to this bill. I feel like it's an agenda on behalf of the Department of Health, and I, along with Cheryl, agree there's much better resources that could be used for health and instead of vaccinating. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Jacqueline Bosman, on Zoom. Not present. I have, just--it's just James in person. Not present. And then Mary Healey, on Zoom. While we're waiting for her to join, anyone else here in the room wishing to testify? Please proceed. See if we can get her on Zoom.

Aloha, chair and committee members. I'm Terry Armbruster, Air Force veteran, military pilot, and commercial pilot for over 30 years, and I strongly oppose HCR 173 for several reasons. This is based on several faulty claims, stating that herd immunity is only gained by vaccines and no mention of natural immunity.

Before a measles vaccine was even available, people got the measles, recovered, and had lifelong natural immunity, and also claiming that all shots are safe and effective, well, just by the MRNA shots alone, there is millions of adverse reactions and thousands and thousands of death, so that is not true, and keep claiming that people are vaccine-hesitant, it's not because they're hesitant; it's because they do not want to be injected with toxins like aluminum, formaldehyde, mercury, and worst of all, cells from aborted babies. That alone is ungodly and horrific.

If you really cared about our health, you would insist that the Department of Health first advocate for natural, healthy ways to build up their immune system, such as nutrition, vitamins, exercise, and all sorts of areas, and also, if you're going to talk about vaccines, you need to emphasize all the risks and all the possible harmful effects so people can have all information to make informed choices. And remember, it's choices, and people should have the choice, shots or not.

And I just want to give you a fair warning that if you do these outreaches in the schools, this may spark an outrage, especially among parents, when you're trying to pressure or--they may even cause lawsuits if you try to pressure or persuade their child to get shots without their knowledge or consent.

Instead of wasting time and money on trying to push vaccines, I request that you would, that you would draft a bill that would--a liability bill for anybody that administers these vaccines and cause harm, that they would be held liable, and especially if they don't follow the informed consent protocols, and also, you can appeal to the U.S. Congress to repeal the 1986 Act so that all pharmaceutical companies would be held liable for any harm or death that are caused by these shots.

Please summarize.

Yes. So I strongly urge you to please stop this resolution or you may even incite a revolution. There's going to be a lot of people that are opposed to this, and you may face a lot of backlash, protests, and lawsuits, so I recommend that you stop this and take on some of these positive recommendations that people have already included. Mahalo.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. Back to Zoom.

Hello. Can you hear?

Yes, please proceed.

Okay, hi. My name is Julia Kim, and I oppose this bill, HR 173. This does not belong in schools, first of all. This is done on purpose with the agenda to peer-pressure the children to talk about each other. Did you get the shot? Whatever, whatever, and the other one thinks it's cool. Let's go get it.

This happened years ago with the flu shot, and I had a nephew come to me and say, 'hey, auntie, did you get the flu shot?' I said,' no, why would I?' Oh, yeah, they're offering it at school. So everybody got it. For schools, it's for places for kids to learn, not push the agenda to get vaccinated. It's our parental choice and it should not be done in the school. So I oppose this, and also, I'm here to say a lot of us did not get the link for to testify on Zoom.

I had to actually call and somebody had to connect me, and this happened with a lot of other bills that a lot of parents oppose that did not get the Zoom link. So you guys might want to have to fix that because that's not right either. So thank you for hearing me.

Thank you. Anyone else on Zoom wishing to testify?

Mai kakou.

Please introduce yourself and proceed.

Aloha. My name is Tarita Tehotu, and I am a resident of Nanakuli, Princess Kahanu. So I had submitted and testified in the HB 1118 bill, and I just, looking at the, the HCR 173, so I am testifying in opposition of the HCR 173 for the following reasons.

If you have read my testimony in paragraph three, what does data from the Department of Health reveal about vaccination rates across the state's public, charter, private schools and when did the drop in rate start? So obviously, many private schools in Hawaii are religious institutions, period.

And so their religious beliefs play an important role in the shaping of the unique of our culture. That's one thing. And then in four--I mean, you can read it--in four, what percentage of students in 2023-2024 school year have no immunization records or are missing some immunizations compared to the percentage of students receiving religious exemptions?

And again, you can see what I wrote about Dr. Director Fink. Paragraph 11, what other states have vaccination education programs and what do these programs entail? Additionally, could you clarify your definition of adapted to Hawaii unique culture? It's important to understand what you mean by Hawaii's unique culture.

Are you referring to Hawaiian culture, community culture, local culture, or rural culture? Please specify which aspects of Hawaiian unique--Hawaii's unique culture are you referring to.

And then also, if you're looking in the fourth paragraph in HCR 173, revealed the true nature of DOE's vaccination report and the DOE's misplaced, and they erroneously blame upon the families and students with religious practices and belief for the records of vaccination status of students.

The DOH website Immunization and Examination Requires Report school year 2022-23 reveals the following schools described as incomplete immunizations, which include religious exemptions or medical exemptions in students with no immunization record or missing immunizations in the range of 30% or more of the school enrollment or NR which is not reporting.

You look at Big Island, Hawaii Island, the Oahu Island, and the statistics on Kauai, on Maui, and if these reports are accurate and if the DOH concerns of insufficient number of vaccinated persons include children will lead to a health threatening, then shut the school. Shut the school--

Please summarize.

Okay, so I am going to share this. The point is, truly this is a little bit more exaggerating, literally. If it is so much of a danger for health, then shut the schools down. Literally, go back to what Hayashi, Keith Hayashi said. You have DOE and you have DOH in conflict with each other. That's my opinion. They're exaggerating. Some of these things are exaggerating--

Thank you so much. Please summarize.

If you're going to do this, you will start--okay. I'm going to summarize: answer the questions that I, that I had asked in my testimony and, and give us an answer. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for your time. Mahalo.

Mahalo. Anyone else on Zoom? Last call here in the room wishing to testify. Okay. All right, members. I'll take a quick short recess so I can adjust my paperwork, and then we'll--oh, I'm sorry. Members, any questions, comments, concerns? All right, seeing none. Just a real quick recess. Don't go far. I just want to get my papers in order.

All right, Members. Thank you so much for your patience. Reconvening the Committee on Health, and we're in decision making. Chair, if I'm doing anything out of order, please let me know. Starting with House Concurrent Resolution 28, House Resolution 27. Members, let's see.

I think we're going to move this out with amendment to do some technical amendments needed for clarity, consistency, and style. Also Members, starting on page two, we're going to lean into House Resolution 18 from session 2024 and use the same members on the groups to be consulted and just continue to be consistent with that original resolution.

Also make note within the resolution that Department of Health or its designee will also be a member of the group. And then also a category that the working group requested that House Representative District 40 and Council Member District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu serve as co-conveners of the group.

And then finally, adding in Environmental Caucus, Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition, and Free Access Coalition and the Shimanchu Wai Protectors into the resolution to receive certified copies. Members, any questions, comments? Thank you, Members. Chair for the vote.

Voting on HCR 28 and HR 27. Chair and Vice Chair vote aye. [Roll Call] Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you. Do I have to do for 27 also? All right, Members. Moving on to House Concurrent Resolution 35, requesting the Auditor assess the social financial effects of mandatory health insurance coverage for for biomarkers. Chair's recommendation is to pass as is. Members, any comments, questions? To the Chair for the vote

Voting on HCR 35. Any Members voting with reservations or no? Seeing none. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Great. Thank you, Members. Moving on to HCR 36. This is for requesting assistance for the mandatory health insurance coverage for colorectal cancer screening. This, Members, I'd like to pass as is. Members, any comments, questions, concerns? Chair for the vote please.

Voting on HCR 36. Any Members voting no or with reservations? Seeing none. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you so much, Members. Moving on. We have House Concurrent Resolution 91, House Resolution 87, requesting health insurance and managed care providers that provide health insurance in the state to provide insurance coverage for prosthetic and or orthotic devices. This, Members, I'd like to pass as is. Members, any comments, questions? Chair.

Voting on HCR 91 and HR 87. Any Members voting with reservations or no? Seeing none. Your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, Chair. Members, on HCR 134. You know, I was reading through the Auditor's comments. And I just want to note, just within their comments, they do not believe that prohibiting cost sharing for certain diagnostic and supplemental breast examination is required. I think this resolution really does highlight that. I think what it fleshed out was that the Auditor concluded that it's done.

So Members, I'm going to be deferring House Concurrent Resolution 134. Moving on to HCR 171, requesting Auditor to assess social and financial effects of proposed mandatory health coverage for our continuous glucose monitors. Members, this one, I think we saw it in House Bill 820. I'd like to pass as is. Members, any comments, questions? Chair for the vote please.

Voting on HCR 171. Any Members voting with reservations or nay? Seeing none. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, Chair. Members, moving on to House Concurrent Resolution 185, requesting the Auditor to conduct a social and financial assessment of proposed mandatory health insurance coverage for Native Hawaiian healing and cultural practices offering through federally qualified health centers. Members, again, I'd like to pass this as is. Any comments, questions? Chair for the vote please.

Voting on HCR 185. Any Members voting no or with reservations? Seeing none. Your recommendation is adopted.

Members, onto House Concurrent Resolution 173, 169. This one I'm going to make a little bit of amendment. I think there is some value to some of what our testifiers is asking. I mean, I think we're all looking for good information to make good decisions.

I also think that there's an opportunity here to really assess and mine some of the information about the number of students in school. I'd like to make an amendment on page 34. I'm sorry, page two, line 34, vaccination drive efforts at schools in Hawaii.

Vaccination rates under 50% beginning the start of the school year 2025 and 26. Oh, I'm sorry. To 30%. Let me reread that, Members. Vaccination drive efforts at schools in Hawaii with vaccination rates under 30% beginning in the start of the school year for 2025-2026. Members, any comments?

I have a comment, Chair.

Thank you. Please proceed.

Thank you. Vaccinating our children, you know, totally against it that, especially with the parents don't have consent, you know, to all these things are. But over the past years, maybe four years where a lot of immigrants been coming over to America into our Hawaii as well. Now we see the flu. We see all kinds of disease coming up. It's much stronger than it was before securing our borders, which is good that we can protect our families here in America.

And I think that we should be looking at how can we vaccine these people to protect our families instead of protecting, vaccinating our kids now and putting disease into their body and not sure if their body can fight back all these disease. Because that's what they're doing, vaccinating, putting some kind of measles disease for our body to fight back and make it stronger so our immune system can get stronger.

But some kids cannot fight it back. And there's history of proving facts that it really affect our children. But if we can protect our families by vaccinating people, the immigrants that coming over or where the disease coming from, you know, we should attack it that way instead of attacking our families. Thank you.

Thank you, Member Alcos. Any other Members, comments, questions? Chair.

I'd just note that, you know, vaccinations have been proven to be safe and effective over the past several decades. And that if we are concerned about our children, school children and otherwise being exposed to possible diseases, then they can easily, just as easily contract them from their neighbors and fellow students as they can from immigrants. For that reason, I support the resolution.

Great. Thank you. Ms. Marten.

I just wanted to say that in the testimony, there's a lot of confusion about what this bill is about. This bill is about making it convenient for parents who want their children to get vaccinated to do so and provide information to them. And, you know, if they are working families, they may not easily be able to do so. It has really nothing to do with forcing vaccinations on anyone. And I find it sad that people want to prevent others from receiving benefits. Thank you.

Thank you.

I have another one, Chair.

Second time, please.

Isn't it legal already that we can vaccinate our children anyway? Isn't it legal that we can take our kids if we wanted to go to the doctor or like I vaccinate myself or my children on some of the things that we choose to. Isn't it legal now? What is this bill doing?

Is it... If one comment was saying that it's sad that we wouldn't want to do this to our children, our parents not going to... Like right now, we are pretty much, I feel that we're mandating something or trying to force it in this direction that we have to do it, you know.

Thank you, Member Alcos. Members, any other comments, questions? Chair for the vote.

Voting on HCR 173 and HR 169. Any Members voting no or with reservations? No votes for Representative Alcos and Garcia. Any other? Reservations for Representative Olds. Chair, your recommendations adopted.

Thank you, Members. We're at the end of our agenda. Thank you so much for being here. This meeting is adjourned.