STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2069

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2259

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2259 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to extend psychotropic medication coverage to QUEST recipients.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Services.

     Your Committees acknowledge the importance of providing open access to medications used to treat mental illness.  Additionally, your Committees find that the comments made by the Department of Human Services regarding the sunset provision relating to the provision of psychotropic medications have merit.  Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by eliminating the three-year sunset provision in order to permit permanent open access to psychotropic medications for QUEST recipients.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2259, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2259, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair