STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3131

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1873

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PRESCRIPTIONS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the sale or transfer of patient prescription information by pharmacy benefits managers, insurance companies, and retail, mail order, and internet pharmacies.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Public Safety, IMS Health, Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans, the Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, and the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices. Testimony in opposition to this motion was submitted by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Comments were submitted by the Board of Pharmacy and the Hawaii Medical Service Association.

Your Committees find that, in the interest of privacy, consumers need greater state protections and controls over the sale and transfer of their prescription information. Your Committees further find that this measure seeks to enact protections from the practice of data-mining of patients' prescription information.

Upon further consideration, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the purpose of this measure is to prohibit data-mining of patients' data;

(2) Including the names of prescribing health care providers as part of identifiable patient data;

(3) Prohibiting the transfer or sale of identifiable patient data for commercial purpose;

(4) Defining commercial purpose to include, but not be limited to, advertising, marketing, promotion or any other purpose that could be used to influence sales of pharmaceutical products, influence the prescribing behavior of health care professionals, or evaluate the effectiveness of a professional detailing sales force;

(5) Excluding from commercial purpose the reimbursement of a pharmacy by the patient's insurance provider or the provider's agent; and

(6) Excluding from commercial purpose bona fide research and development.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1873, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Health,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

____________________________

RON MENOR, Chair