Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2005 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to correct a flaw in statutory language that prevents mental health service providers from disclosing records to insurers for billing purposes. This bill allows a health "provider" rather than "insurer" to provide the statutorily required information to the patient that allows disclosure and billing to be made.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Department of Health, Queen's Medical Center, Healthcare Association, Kaiser Permanente, Health Information Management Association of Hawaii, and Hawaii Medical Service Association.

Your Committees find that the statute that is the subject of this bill was amended by the 2003 Legislature to allow a provider to submit mental health records to an insurer without the patient's consent under certain conditions. These include the condition that the patient be informed that a reimbursement claim will be made. Unfortunately, the statute provides that the insurer, who has no reason to know of the claim, is to inform the patient of the claim. This bill corrects this situation by allowing the provider to inform the patient that a claim will be made.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2005 and recommend that it pass Third Reading.