STAND. COM. REP. NO. 318

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 608

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 608 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEDICINE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Hawaii Medical Board to:

     (1)  Set content standards for physician continuing education regarding prevention and treatment of chronic disease through changes in nutrition and lifestyle;

     (2)  Disseminate information regarding the prevention and treatment of chronic disease by the application of changes in nutrition and lifestyle behavior; and

     (3)  Convene a working group to discuss nutrition and lifestyle behavior for the treatment and prevention of chronic disease at a Board meeting before July 1, 2016.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from two individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Medical Board.

     Your Committee finds that it is estimated that the health care costs for chronic disease treatment account for over seventy-five percent of national health expenditures.  Your Committee further finds that many of the problems associated with chronic disease could be alleviated with a change in diet.  However, your Committee also finds that nutrition counseling is not extensively taught in medical schools.  This measure addresses the important issues of nutrition and lifestyle behavioral change by requiring the Hawaii Medical Board to set content standards for continuing education, disseminate relevant information, and assemble a working group to discuss the treatment and prevention of chronic disease through changes in nutrition and lifestyle.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 608, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 608, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair