The Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee has scuttled a proposed tax on Hawaii health insurance premiums. Health organizations that are tax exempt such as HMSA and Kaiser would be hit with the imposed tax.

Gov. Linda Lingle warned that the health insurance tax would raise Hawaii's cost of living.

If the bill was passed, health insurance tax would have started from 2.3 percent to 4.3 percent by 2013, according to state officials.

That would equate to about $472 million out of consumers pockets over the next five years.

This comes as two state Senate committees on Tuesday advanced a general-excise tax increase to help with the state's budget deficit. They argue that a hike in the broad-based tax is more equitable than targeted tax increases on businesses.