CHAIRMAN RIEGER  called the Senate Health, Education and Social              
 Services (HESS) Committee to order at 2:23 p.m. and introduced                
  SB 145  (POSITION OF STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER) as the first order              
 of business.                                                                  
                                                                               
 DR. PETER NAKAMURA, Director, Division of Public Health,                      
 Department of Health and Social Services, explained that SB                   
 145 would allow the state to establish a medical examiner                     
 system.                                                                       
                                                                               
 Currently, the state assumes the costs of post mortem                         
 examinations for deaths that are unattended.  Approximately                   
 53 percent of the funds go towards paying for the post mortem                 
 physician cost, 33 percent of the expenses go towards the                     
 mortuary service cost, and approximately 14 percent goes                      
 towards travel.  For the past several years the program has                   
 been underfunded, and the department has had to request                       
 supplemental funding up to an amount of $350,000 to pick up                   
 these services when the funding was short and the demand was                  
 high.                                                                         
                                                                               
 Dr. Nakamura said that by establishing a medical examiner                     
 system in the state, the department hopes to contain their                    
 costs in the future.  The medical examiner will be able to                    
 perform from 125 to 150 autopsies by himself, however, they                   
 will continue to buy additional autopsy services from the                     
 existing pathologists in the state.                                           
                                                                               
 Dr. Nakamura also said the department believes it can                         
 eliminate a fair number of examinations that they are now                     
 doing by having someone who is employed by the state                          
 overseeing the program.  Currently, the Department of Health                  
 and Social Services just pays the bills and has no ability                    
 to control the costs, and it is hoped to have the medical                     
 examiner system located in their department.                                  
                                                                               
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 CHAIRMAN RIEGER stated SB 145 would be held until later in the                
 meeting when a quorum was established.                                        
 CHAIRMAN RIEGER brought SB 145 back before the committee and                  
 asked for the pleasure of the committee.                                      
                                                                               
 SENATOR MILLER moved that SB 145, along with the accompanying                 
 fiscal notes, be passed out of committee with individual                      
 recommendations.  Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR LEMAN commented that he wasn't convinced that this                    
 approach would save any costs and that it will probably add                   
 another two people to the state payroll when the existing                     
 contracting system in place right now works fairly well.