STAND. COM. REP. NO. 119

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 761

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 761 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to expand the definition of "serious mental illness" to include delusional disorder, major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and dissociative disorder.

The Department of Health, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Hawaii Medical Association, The Queen's Medical Center, the Hawaii Psychological Association, the Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Kaiser Permanente, the Mental Health Association in Hawaii, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and two individuals submitted testimony in support of this measure. The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii submitted testimony in opposition. Hawaii Medical Service Association submitted comments.

Your Committee finds that national trends in mental health care are towards expansion of mandated mental health treatment benefits through parity with other physical illnesses. As the Department of Health noted in its testimony, this trend is based on the assumption that it is discriminatory to restrict or offer less access to health care in the area of mental health relative to other areas of health care. This measure will better enable individuals afflicted with serious mental illness to access necessary treatment by including four additional disorders within the definition of "serious mental illness."

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

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. 761, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 761, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing.

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

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair