STAND. COM. REP. NO. 728

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1217

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 1217, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require health insurers to provide coverage for medically necessary health care services covered by a health insurance policy when provided by licensed naturopathic physicians acting within their scope of practice;

     (2)  Specify that health care services provided by naturopathic physicians may be subject to certain limitations;

     (3)  Specify that limitations shall not direct treatment in a manner that unfairly discriminates against the practice of naturopathic medicine; and

     (4)  Permit insurers to require naturopathic physician services to be provided by a naturopathic physician under contract or covered consistently with out-of-network provider reimbursement practices.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from two individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Kaiser Permanente Hawaii.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Hawaii Medical Services Association.

     Your Committee finds that health plans and insurance companies in the State have limited the types of health care providers permitted to provide services to their members by excluding certain non-medical doctor licensed providers.  In particular, naturopathic physicians are often excluded from insurance contracts in Hawaii, which forces patients who choose a naturopathic physician as their primary care provider to pay out of pocket for their primary care needs.

     Your Committee further finds that discrimination against any provider group, as a whole, is harmful to patients and restricts their ability to select the provider of their choice.  The ability for patients to choose the licensed provider of their choice is integral to the intended full implementation of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Affordable Care Act).  This measure provides clarity that naturopathic physicians must be compensated appropriately, similar to other licensed providers and without discrimination, per the requirements of section 2706 of the Affordable Care Act.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1217, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair