STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2309

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2467

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2467 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require that one annual mental health screening be included in health insurance coverage for diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Your Committee finds that mental health care is a critical tool in addressing chronic disease. Although mental health has conventionally been approached as separate and secondary to physical health, studies have shown that mental illness is integral to overall health and has been linked to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Covering annual mental health screenings will help to normalize routine mental health check-ups, reduce stigma around mental health and mental illness, increase access to care, and encourage earlier detection and treatment of mental illness, which could reduce the prevalence of chronic disease.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

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. 2467, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2467, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

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

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JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair