STAND. COM. REP. NO. 154

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 36

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 36 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to convene a mental health and substance abuse parity working group to determine how the State can come into compliance with federal mental health and substance abuse parity laws and regulations and enhance its existing parity laws.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Ku Aloha Ola Mau, and The Salvation Army Addiction Treatment Services.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and the Hawaii Medical Service Association.

 

Your Committee finds that, because the State has the option to enact and implement parity laws that are even more comprehensive than what is required for federal compliance, a mental health and substance abuse parity working group would best help the State determine how to establish these laws.  Your Committee further finds that an amendment to this measure should be made to include an insurance representative in the working group in order to gather ideas from this industry.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Adding language to include a representative from a health insurance provider in the working group and to permit the Department of Health to work with other departments to carry out the purpose of the measure; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 36, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 36, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair