STAND. COM. REP. NO.  511-20

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2020

 

RE:   H.B. No. 2451

      H.D. 2

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2451, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to amend the Our Care, Our Choice Act by:

 

     (1)  Explicitly recognizing advanced practice registered nurses as attending providers and consulting providers capable of performing all necessary duties under the Our Care, Our Choice Act in accordance with their scope of practice and prescribing authority;

 

     (2)  Reducing the mandatory waiting period between oral requests made by a terminally ill individual from twenty to fifteen days; and

 

     (3)  Waiving the waiting period between oral requests for a qualified patient who an attending provider has attested will die within fifteen days of making the initial oral request.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; University of Hawaii System; Hawaii – American Nurses Association; Hawaii Death with Dignity Society; Filipina Advocacy Network; Compassion and Choices; North Hawaii Hospice, Inc.; LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; and numerous individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaii Family Forum and twelve individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Board of Nursing and Hawaii State Center for Nursing.

 

     Your Committees find that access to care is a significant problem statewide, particularly in rural areas.  Due in part to Hawaii's geography, the State's supply of physicians is at its lowest since 2015, creating additional barriers to access for qualified terminally ill individuals.  Your Committees further find that Hawaii grants advanced practice registered nurses the authority to independently carry out all medical acts consistent with their education and training, including prescribing all forms of medication.  However, at this time, advanced practice registered nurses do not have the authority to support terminally ill patients who want the option of medical aid in dying by acting as an attending or consulting provider under the State's Our Care, Our Choice Act.  This measure explicitly recognizes advanced practice registered nurses as attending providers and consulting providers under the Our Care, Our Choice Act, which will provide greater access for mentally capable, qualified terminally ill individuals to the full range of end-of-life care options under the Act.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting language that would have allowed a waiver of the waiting period between oral requests for those qualified patients not expected to survive the mandatory fifteen-day waiting period; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2451, H.D. 1,  as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to your Committee on Finance, in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2451, H.D. 2.

 

 

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

 

 

____________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair

 

____________________________

ROY M. TAKUMI, Chair