News

The Senate Committees on Judiciary & Labor and Ways & Means will be hearing a new proposed draft for H.B 1075 on Wednesday, April 8 at 9:45 a.m., in State Capitol conference room 211. The language in the proposed draft can be viewed here. We strongly urge you to submit testimony, as this is the last public forum for this measure.

To submit written testimony prior to the hearing, click here. Copies of testimony may be faxed to 587-7348 or emailed to JDLtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov.

HGEA strongly opposes H.B. 1075 which privatizes the Maui Region of the state's safety net hospital system, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation.

• More than 900 jobs belonging to HGEA members will be affected if this legislation is passed. NEW: In the proposed version of the bill, employees will continue employment only if they satisfy job qualifications for the private operator’s comparable positions, and only for an undetermined initial period.  After the  initial period, the private operator may continue to employ personnel at its discretion.
• The private operator will have exclusive control of all matters related to management and operation of the facilities.
• The bill requests continued taxpayer subsidies of at least $32 million per year for 10 years and joint state funding of all capital improvement projects, under specific conditions.  Additionally, the private operator will not pay a fair-market value lease for the three hospitals, but a nominal $1 per year for 25 years. ​
• The private operator has left too many questions unanswered including which services will be improved and expanded.
  HGEA strongly supports full financial and management audits of HHSC and the  centralization of authority to ensure efficiency and economies of scale.