STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1157

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1624

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 1624, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to allow physicians who treat Medicaid recipient patients suffering from HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C or Medicaid recipient patients who need organ-transplant immunosuppressives to prescribe any medications approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration that are needed to treat the Medicaid recipient patient without the hindrance of a preauthorization requirement.

Hepatitis Hale Treatment & Support Program; Hepatitis Prevention, Education, Treatment, and Support Network of Hawaii; Hawaii Chapter of the American Liver Foundation; National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces; and a concerned individual supported this bill. The Department of Human Services (DHS) and First Health Services Corporation opposed this bill.

Your Committees find that there is greater urgency than the current statute reflects in governing the method of distribution of the few effective prescription drugs to treat HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. Currently, a lengthy preauthorization program must be endured prior to a patient's being able to receive these drugs after they have been prescribed by a licensed medical physician.

Although DHS has been charged with the task of maintaining safety precautions with regard to these drugs, your Committees find that the urgency necessary for a patient's effective treatment and the safeguards set by the licensed medical physician demonstrate that this preauthorization policy is unnecessary in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.

In recognition of the concerns of DHS, your Committees have amended this bill by changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion.

This bill has also been amended by making technical, nonsubstantive changes for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1624, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1624, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services,

 

____________________________

ALEX M. SONSON, Chair

____________________________

DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair