STAND. COM. REP. NO. 549

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 657

       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 Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 657 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHIROPRACTIC,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to update the scope of practice of chiropractic to reflect standards, practices, and terminology accepted by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Chiropractic Association, the American Chiropractic Association, twenty-four chiropractic doctors, and seventeen private individuals.  Your Committee received a petition in support of this measure with the signatures of three hundred forty-eight individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Insurers Council.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Hawaii Medical Association, Hawaii Dietetic Association, and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that chiropractors are a valuable part of a comprehensive health care system.  Your Committee further finds that the current statute defining the scope of chiropractic practice is outdated and does not accurately reflect the education, training, and testing required for licensure of chiropractors.  Your Committee also finds that the standards and scope of practice contained in this measure are in accord with the standards and scope tested by the National Board Exams for chiropractors.  Finally, your Committee finds that, while chiropractic licensees are recognized medical providers for many purposes, including workers' compensation and Medicare, the use of the title "physician" to designate chiropractic licensees may be misleading since common usage of that term connotes a medical doctor.  Therefore, your Committee believes that the current designation for a chiropractic licensee as Doctor of Chiropractic, or DC, provides more clarity.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that the scope of practice of chiropractic includes the application of nutrition methods as distinguished from clinical nutrition methods employed by registered dieticians;

 

     (2)  Clarifying that a chiropractor may serve as a portal of entry for consumers to obtain neuromuscular and skeletal health care services;

 

     (3)  Clarifying that chiropractic licensees may examine, analyze, diagnose, and treat patients through the use of light and other methods taught by an accredited chiropractic college; and

 

     (4)  Removing provisions that would have allowed a chiropractic licensee to use the title "chiropractic physician" or "physician" under certain conditions.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 657, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 657, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 


Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

 

 

 

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair