STAND. COM. REP. NO. 412

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1798

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1798 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to make psychotropic drugs more readily available to the residents of Hawaii who need them.

     Specifically, this measure adds advanced practice registered nurses to the list of persons who can prescribe psychotropic medication under section 346-59.9, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association and eight individuals.  The Department of Human Services submitted testimony supporting the intent of this measure with recommendations.

     Your Committees find that the Hawaii Administrative Rules give advanced practice registered nurses prescriptive authority under a "collegial" agreement with a physician.  Your Committees further find that this measure will give advanced practice registered nurses full prescriptive authority for psychotropic medications without a "collegial" agreement.  This will enable patients in need of psychotropic medications to receive them in a timely manner, eliminating the lengthy and complicated process that the current pre-authorization requirement necessitates.

     To ensure equal access to psychotropic medications for all Medicaid clients, your Committees have adopted the recommendations of the Department of Human Services and amended this measure by removing section 3, which excluded QUEST medical plans from this measure.

     Your Committees further amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1798, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1798, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Affordable Housing.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Housing,

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair