RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Blue Ribbon Panel on Living and Dying with Dignity (Blue Ribbon Panel) was formed by then-Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano in late 1996 to consider the many issues involved in death and dying and to suggest guidelines for public policy; and

WHEREAS, the Blue Ribbon Panel investigated the true meaning of "Death-with-Dignity" by exploring means for a terminally ill person to die with comfort, care, and respect for the patient and the family of the patient; and

WHEREAS, in May 1998, the Blue Ribbon Panel issued its final report, which included the unanimous recommendation that hospice care be made more available and offered more expediently to the dying; and

WHEREAS, hospice care is a service that can be delivered at home, in a freestanding unit operated by the hospice, in nursing or care homes, or even in beds set aside in acute care hospitals to provide quality end-of-life, palliative care; and

WHEREAS, hospice care is a philosophy that accepts that an illness has progressed to a terminal stage so that death cannot be avoided even with aggressive medical treatment; and

WHEREAS, the goal of hospice care is not to prolong life, but to make dying as comfortable as possible for the person dying and for family and friends through quality end-of-life, palliative care; and

WHEREAS, the Blue Ribbon Panel found that many of Hawaii's health care providers believe that if pain management can be improved and hospice care increased, few people would consider physician-assisted death, which may be viewed as desirable when pain is not controlled; and

WHEREAS, in addition to increasing patient satisfaction, quality end-of-life, palliative care almost always costs less than most other forms of acute care at the end of life; and

WHEREAS, it is important that a person diagnosed with a terminal illness be afforded all available comfort and care options as soon as possible to ensure a high quality of life during the person's remaining time; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Insurance Commissioner is urged to investigate methods of expanding access to quality end-of-life, palliative care, including extending insurance coverage for hospice care to persons who have been diagnosed as having a life expectancy of two years or less; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Insurance Commissioner is requested to explore other methods of making quality end-of-life, palliative care available to all people in Hawaii regardless of their health insurance coverage or lack thereof; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Insurance Commissioner is requested to initiate discussion and dialogue between Hawaii's medical service providers, including:

(1) Hawaii Medical Services Association (HMSA);

(2) Kaiser Permanente (Kaiser);

(3) The Healthcare Association of Hawaii (HAH); and

(4) Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC),

to determine the best ways to expand access to quality end-of-life, palliative care; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Insurance Commissioner, HMSA, Kaiser, HAH, and HHSC.

Report Title:

Urging the Insurance Commissioner to require insurers to extend coverage for hospice care to persons who have been diagnosed as having a life expectancy of two years or less.