THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            26
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO STUDY THE SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL
    EFFECTS OF MANDATING THE INCLUSION OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
    THERAPY WITHIN MENTAL HEALTH AND ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE
    TREATMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS. 


 1        WHEREAS, marriage and family therapy is the diagnosis and
 2   treatment of mental and emotional disorders within the context
 3   of marriage and family systems; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, marriage and family therapy involves the
 6   professional application of psychotherapeutic and family
 7   systems theories and techniques in the delivery of services to
 8   individuals, couples, and families to treat such disorders; and 
 9   
10        WHEREAS, marriage and family therapists are regulated
11   under Chapter 451J, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and must meet
12   stringent examination, educational, and experiential
13   requirements for licensure, including passage of the National
14   Marriage and Family Exam, and completion of a post-graduate
15   degree program in marriage and family therapy, a year-long
16   practicum, one thousand hours of direct marriage and family
17   therapy, and two hundred hours of clinical supervision; and  
18   
19        WHEREAS, the National Institute of Mental Health
20   recognizes the marriage and family therapy profession as one of
21   the five core mental health professions along with psychiatry,
22   psychology, clinical social work, and registered nurses; and
23   
24        WHEREAS, under chapter 431M, Hawaii Revised Statutes
25   (HRS), physicians, psychologists, clinical social workers, and
26   advanced practice registered nurses are authorized to provide
27   services for mental illness and alcohol and drug dependency
28   under accident and sickness insurance policies and health plan
29   contracts; and 
30    
31        WHEREAS, expanding coverage under chapter 431M to include
32   marriage and family therapists would offer consumers of health
33   care for mental illness and alcohol and drug dependency a wider
34   range of treatment options; and

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            26
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        WHEREAS, section 23-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires
 2   that, prior to the Legislature mandating the inclusion of
 3   certain providers of health care services under individual or
 4   group health insurance policies, there must be an assessment of
 5   the social and financial effects of the proposed mandated
 6   coverage; now, therefore,
 7   
 8        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
 9   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
10   Representatives concurring, that the Auditor is requested to
11   assess the social and financial effects of requiring that
12   treatment provided by marriage and family therapists be
13   included as part of mental health and alcohol or drug abuse
14   treatment insurance benefits under section 431M, Hawaii Revised
15   Statutes; and
16   
17        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor shall submit its
18   findings and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days
19   before the convening of the Regular Session of 2000; and 
20   
21        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
22   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the
23   Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and to the Insurance
24   Commissioner.  
25 
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27                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________