THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

95

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the Department of Health convene a task force to examine the feasibility of allowing private pay patients on a fee for services basis to receive day continuing services, including mental health treatment, psychosocial rehabilitation services, and other community support services provided by the department's community health centers.

 

 

WHEREAS, the Director of Health is authorized under section 334-6(a), Hawaii Revised Statutes, to establish reasonable charges for psychiatric treatment services under Chapter 334, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to mental health, illness, and addiction; and

WHEREAS, according to the Department of Health, a severely mentally ill adult without insurance who meets the Department's Adult Mental Health Division's eligibility criteria can receive services from the Department and the Director can waive the requirement for payment in instances of financial hardship; and

WHEREAS, there exists a gap group of individuals who currently do not have or require active case management through the Adult Mental Health Division and who are receiving psychiatric services from private providers but who wish to receive services from the Department of Health instead; and

WHEREAS, if these "private pay" individuals who can afford to pay are provided with services by the Department of Health instead of by private providers, it would only be fair that the Department charge reasonable fees for this gap group; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to convene a task force to explore the feasibility of:

(1) Allowing private pay patients to receive day continuing services, including mental health treatment, psychosocial rehabilitation services, and other community support on a voluntary basis;

(2) Requiring private pay patients to pay in full for those services;

(3) Establishing a schedule of graduated fees to be charged for the provision of those services to private pay patients; and

(4) Developing public private partnerships to enhance mental health services in the community; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to interpret the terms "continuing services" and "private pay patient" as follows:

(1) "Continuing services" means services provided by the Department of Health and voluntarily requested by the private pay patient that are designed to promote recovery from severe and persistent mental illness through treatment, psychosocial rehabilitation services, and other community support, based on the understanding that severe and persistent mental illness is generally life-long, with an individualized course of recovery that may include relapse and remission; and

(2) "Private pay patient" means a person who:

(A) Is otherwise eligible, as assessed by the Department of Health, to receive day continuing services;

(B) Requests to receive those services voluntarily; and

(C) Is able to and does pay in full, any graduated charges to be established and imposed by the Director of Health for the provision of these services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include representatives of the Department of Human Services, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Kaiser Permanente, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Oahu, two public sector consumers, and two private sector consumers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health is requested to submit a report to the Legislature on the progress of its actions, as well as the findings of the task force, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, Director of Human Services, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Oahu, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and Kaiser Permanente.

Report Title:

DOH Mental Health Services; Private Pay Graduated Charges; Rules