STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1193

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: S.B. No. 844
                                     S.D. 2
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No.
844, S.D. 2, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH INSURANCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to end discrimination in health
insurance against persons with mental illness by enacting a
parity law which mandates equitable insurance coverage for mental
illness and all other medical illnesses.

     The Department of Health, The Hawaii Medical Association,
the Mental Health Association in Hawaii, the Hawaii Psychological
Association, United Self-Help, the Hawaii Substance Abuse
Coalition, The Hawaii State Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the
Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association, and six individuals
testified in support of this measure.  The Hawaii Medical Service
Association, Kaiser Permanente, the National Federation of
Independent Business, and the Legislative Information Services of
Hawaii opposed this bill.  The Department of Commerce and
Consumer Affairs offered comments.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by deleting its
substance and inserting therefor, the substance of H.B. No. 320,
a similar measure, passed out of your Committee in an unamended
form on February 9, 1999.

     Your Committee has further amended the bill by:

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1193
                                 Page 2

 
     (1)  Specifying that it is the patient's health care
          providers who are best qualified to determine the
          patient's medical needs; and

     (2)  Establishing a Hawaii Equal Insurance Task Force, to be
          convened four years after enactment of this bill, to
          study the financial and social implications of mandated
          equal mental health and substance abuse insurance
          coverage in Hawaii.

     While there is a need to require equal insurance coverage
for mental illness and other medical illnesses, your Committee
also recognizes the need to closely examine the financial
implications of this legislation through a cost-benefit analysis.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
844, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 844, S.D.
2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Consumer
Protection and Commerce.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Health,



                                   ______________________________
                                   ALEXANDER C. SANTIAGO, Chair