SR 49 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

ESTABLISHING THE HAWAII HEALTH PLAN WORKING GROUP TO DESIGN AND RECOMMEND A BASIC, AFFORDABLE HAWAII HEALTH PLAN AVAILABLE TO EVERY RESIDENT OF THE STATE.

This Senate Resolution establishes a Hawaii Health Plan Working Group to design and recommend a basic, affordable health plan available to every resident of the state. The working group will include representatives from the Senate health committee, the Governor's office, the Insurance Commissioner, the State Health Planning and Development Agency, the Hawaii Medical Service Association, and Kaiser Permanente. The group is tasked with developing a report with recommendations and proposed legislation by October 2026, with the goal of submitting final findings to the Legislature by early 2027. The resolution references existing federal changes that may increase the number of uninsured residents and draws on Hawaii's previous State Health Insurance Program Act as a model for a similar state-level solution. The working group is authorized to cease operations on June 30, 2027, after completing its review and recommendations.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 10, 2026 Last action May 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SR49 → SR49_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill was amended to shift the creation of a health plan working group from a Senate-only initiative to a joint effort between the Senate and House of Representatives. The amendment also expanded the working group's membership to include new representatives from labor relations, Medicaid administration, and healthcare advocacy organizations, while updating the list of officials to receive the final report.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from a Senate-only resolution to a joint Senate and House resolution, requiring bipartisan cooperation to establish the working group.

SCOPE

Changed the resolution from being offered by the Senate alone to being jointly established by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

REQUIREMENT

Added the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Administrator of the Med-QUEST Division as mandatory members of the working group.

Added representatives from the Healthcare Association of Hawaii and the Hawaii Primary Care Association as invited members.

MODIFIED

Updated the list of officials to receive the final report to include the new members and remove the former Senate-only chair.

TECHNICAL

Adjusted the legislative template version and metadata to reflect the new joint-bill format.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from HHS/CPN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3531) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, Lamosao, McKelvey; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha, Keohokalole; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS/CPN has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 10:00AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to HHS/CPN.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Offered.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors