STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1304

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.C.R. No. 93

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 93 entitled:

 

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION DISCOURAGING THE PRACTICE OF CREATING AND USING SPECIALTY TIERS FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS IN HEALTH PLANS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to discourage and eliminate, whenever possible, the practice of creating and using specialty tiers for prescription drugs in health plans in order to ensure affordable access to health care for Hawaii's citizens.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from The Neuropathy Association, Power of Pain Foundation, Neuropathy Action Foundation, The Myositis Association, The Alliance for BioTherapeutics, National Cornerstone Healthcare Services, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Immune Deficiency Foundation, HAPA, and two private citizens. 

 

     Your Committees find that because health plans across the country have begun to create specialty tiers for certain prescription drugs that require patients to pay either a much higher copayment or a percentage of the cost of the drug instead of a copayment, the high out-of-pocket costs for specialty drugs often preclude patients from complying with the treatment protocols prescribed by their doctors.  This measure will help alleviate the financial hardship placed on consumers of specialty drugs.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 93, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 93, S.D. 1.

 

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

 

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair