REPORT TITLE:
Health Care


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes a task force of representatives from health care
professional schools to determine whether care of the dying
should be made a part of a professional's education requirements.
Establishes a second task force to undertake a comprehensive
review of laws with regard to living wills, durable powers of
attorney, and advance directives.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           848
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO HEALTH CARE.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that health care
 
 2 professionals and the public alike are troubled by patterns of
 
 3 inadequate care for dying patients.  Almost every type of health
 
 4 care professional and organization treats dying patients, so
 
 5 responsibility is broad and myriad changes are needed.  Reform
 
 6 requires broad interdisciplinary collaboration and depends
 
 7 primarily on better use of existing therapeutic knowledge and
 
 8 continued expansion of the research base.  Some of the problems
 
 9 facing patients, their families, and the health care
 
10 professionals who provide care for the dying are that many dying
 
11 patients suffer severe pain, serious chronic illness threatens
 
12 many patients with financial impoverishment, and advance care
 
13 planning remains the exception rather than the rule.
 
14      The purpose of this Act is to organize two separate task
 
15 forces to address issues relating to the care of the dying.  The
 
16 first task force will review whether professional and vocational
 
17 licensing laws of health care professionals should be amended to
 
18 require education on the care of the dying as an integral
 
19 component of professional training and practice.  The second task
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           848
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 force will undertake a comprehensive review of laws regarding
 
 2 living wills and advance directives in order that their use may
 
 3 be encouraged.
 
 4      SECTION 2.  (a) The director of health shall convene a task
 
 5 force to review whether professional and vocational licensing
 
 6 laws of health care professionals should be amended to require
 
 7 education on the care of the dying as an integral component of
 
 8 professional training and practice.
 
 9      (b) The director, or the director's designated
 
10 representative, shall be a member and serve as the chair of the
 
11 task force and appoint all other members.
 
12      (c) The other members of the task force shall consist of
 
13 representatives from every health care professional school
 
14 operating in the State, provided that the school is accredited by
 
15 an accrediting association or agency recognized by the United
 
16 States Secretary of Education. 
 
17      (d) "Health care professional" shall generally have the
 
18 meaning ascribed to it under Hawaii Revised Statutes, section
 
19 451D-2, except that it shall refer specifically to physicians and
 
20 surgeons, podiatrists, dentists, psychologists, nurses,
 
21 acupuncturists, massage therapists, naturopathic physicians, and
 
22 chiropractors.
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           848
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (e) The task force shall submit its findings and
 
 2 recommendations to the legislature not later than twenty days
 
 3 prior to the convening of the 2000 regular session.
 
 4      (f)  The task force shall terminate upon the adjournment of
 
 5 the 2000 regular session.
 
 6      SECTION 3.  (a)  The attorney general shall convene a task
 
 7 force to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing
 
 8 statutes in this State in order to:
 
 9      (1)  Simplify and coordinate the statutes regarding living
 
10           wills under part I of chapter 327, Hawaii Revised
 
11           Statutes, relating to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act,
 
12           and durable powers of attorney for health care
 
13           decisions, under section 551D-2.5, Hawaii Revised
 
14           Statutes;
 
15      (2)  Review the statutes in order to increase the use of
 
16           advance directives under chapter 327D, Hawaii Revised
 
17           Statutes, on medical treatment decisions; and
 
18      (3)  Design mechanisms to increase the likelihood that
 
19           advance directives will be followed.
 
20      (b)  The task force shall have a total membership of _______
 
21 members.  The attorney general shall be a member and serve as the
 
22 chair of the task force and appoint at least one member each to
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           848
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 represent the following entities:
 
 2      (1)  Health care facilities as defined in section 327D-2,
 
 3           Hawaii Revised Statutes; 
 
 4      (2)  Health care providers as defined in section 327D-2,
 
 5           Hawaii Revised Statutes;
 
 6      (3)  Procurement organizations as defined in section 327-2,
 
 7           Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
 
 8      (4)  The Hawaii State Bar Association; and
 
 9      (5)  The public.
 
10      (c)  The legislative reference bureau shall assist the task
 
11 force by drafting any legislation proposed by the task force.
 
12      (d)  The task force shall submit its findings and
 
13 recommendations to the legislature no later than twenty days
 
14 prior to the convening of the regular session of 2000.
 
15      (e)  The task force shall terminate upon the adjournment of
 
16 the 2000 regular session.
 
17      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
18 
 
19                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________