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Kōkua Mau Meeting January 2026

January 29 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm HST

Join us for the first Kōkua Mau meeting of 2026. We will be giving an update on the reintroduction of the Uniform Healthcare Decisions Act. 

We are very pleased to be joined by Jennifer Moore Ballentine who has been studying this law for several years and is a national expert on the topic. She will give an overview of the bill and areas of concern to help guide our local discussions.

Jennifer Moore Ballentine is CEO of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC). She is an educator, consultant, and advocate with more than 25 years’ experience and expertise in palliative care and hospice, adult education, healthcare ethics and policy. She is the former Executive Director of the California State University Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care and previously held leadership roles for Life Quality Institute, The Denver Hospice, and the Colorado Center for Hospice and Palliative Care. She currently serves, with Jeannette, on the national POLST Board of Directors. CCCC is a sister organization to Kōkua Mau and we have partnered with them for years.

Kōkua Mau members who are interested can submit testimony about the bill so please come and learn more and how you can help. Hearings will begin soon so now is the time to ask questions and compose your testimony.

Thur Jan 29
|3-5 PM

  • Register in advance for this zoom meeting:
  • After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Bill numbers: HB 2257 and SB 3077

If you are thinking you have heard this before, you are right. Last year, we had a similar issue that this important and complex topic was introduced without education on the bill and no opportunity to provide feedback. Here is a summary of the issues we had last year. https://kokuamau.org/for-members/legislative-agenda-in-hawaii/

On December 30, we learned that the bill will be re-introduced, again with no chance for education or input. It does not appear that the bill is substantively different from last year so our questions remain. And new questions will arise.

Please attend to learn where we are with the bill and how you can help. This is a very important bill for all of us who care for those with serious illness.