HB 2501 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HEALTH CARE.

Summary

Requires hospitals and hospital systems to submit annual certified reports regarding costs associated with Medicare and uninsured patients to the Department of Health, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and State Health Planning and Development Agency. Requires the Department of Health, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and State Health Planning and Development Agency to review the reports, establish standards and procedures, and adopt rules. Requires the Department of Health to consider the reports when determining the department's budget request and designate financial assistance requests in an equitable way. Requires the Office of the Auditor to conduct periodic audits of the financial assistance distributed to hospitals and hospital systems. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Last action Mar 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB2501 → HB2501_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill revision updates the effective date of the legislation from immediate approval to July 1, 3000, likely to allow time for further review or placeholder for a future date. It also modifies the reporting requirements for hospitals, changing the metric from 'total amount expended' to 'net loss' for high-cost Medicare and uninsured patients, which shifts the focus from total spending to financial sustainability. Additionally, the financial assistance distribution criteria were broadened to include all hospitals receiving state funds, not just state hospitals.

Scope change

The scope of financial assistance distribution was expanded to include all hospitals and hospital systems that receive state funds, rather than being limited to state hospitals.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from 'upon approval' to 'July 1, 3000'.

REQUIREMENT

Reporting metrics for high-cost patients were changed from 'total amount expended' to 'net loss' to better reflect financial burden.

FISCAL

Financial assistance distribution rules were updated to apply equitably across all hospitals and hospital systems receiving state funds.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to HHS/CPN, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 114).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Alcos; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Lee, M..

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from HLT/CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 475-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Marten, Tam; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Kong; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Lowen, Pierick.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HLT recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Takayama, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Hartsfield, Marten, Olds, Takenouchi; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Alcos, Garcia; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Amato.

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to HLT/CPC, FIN, referral sheet 9

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to HLT, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

16 primary · 0 co-sponsors