Bill Text: HI SB1036 | 2019 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Clinical Victim Support Services.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-03-22 - Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Quinlan, Yamane excused (2). [SB1036 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2019-SB1036-Amended.html
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1036 |
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO CLINICAL VICTIM SUPPORT SERVICES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that sexual violence and abuse are extremely prevalent in the United States. One in six women and one in thirty-three men have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetimes. One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn eighteen. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 43.9 per cent of women and 23.4 per cent of men have experienced forms of sexual violence other than rape within their lifetimes.
The legislature further finds that many
sexual violence and abuse victims suffer conditions and disorders requiring clinical
support and psychotherapy. Victims who
were sexually assaulted during adulthood suffer post-traumatic stress disorder,
depressive disorders, parasuicidal behaviors, and substance use disorders. Victims of childhood sexual abuse face
psychological challenges at rates higher than people who have not experienced
sexual abuse. Childhood sexual assault
victims are three to five times more likely to be diagnosed with post-traumatic
stress disorder, have fifty-two per cent higher rates of lifetime depression,
and experience increased rates of suicide, self-harming behaviors, alcohol use,
eating disorders, and disruptions to developmental processes that lead to
personality disorders.
The legislature also finds that many sexual
violence and abuse victims have difficulty obtaining appropriate mental health
services from providers capable of addressing their specific issues. Although victims need clinical victim support
services to treat mental disorders caused by sexual violence and abuse, the
services are often not covered by health insurers.
The legislature additionally finds that clinical
victim support services arguably fall within the existing definition of
"mental health outpatient services," which are already included in
policies offered by health insurers, mutual benefit societies, fraternal
benefit societies, and health maintenance organizations. Therefore, section 23‑51, Hawaii
Revised Statutes, which requires an impact assessment report by the auditor
prior to any new legislatively-mandated health insurance coverage, does not
apply.
The purpose of this Act is to improve
mental health service availability for victims of sexual violence and abuse by clarifying
that clinical victim support services for victims of sexual violence and abuse
are a mental health outpatient services benefit required to be covered under health
insurance policies offered by health insurers, mutual benefit societies, fraternal
benefit societies, and health maintenance organizations.
SECTION 2. Section 431M-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new definitions to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:
""Clinical
victim support services" means a professional intervention conducted by a licensed
mental health provider to identify needs and assist in obtaining coordinated,
appropriate services and resources for a victim of sexual violence and abuse to
curtail or prevent the progression and worsening of mental disorders and
associated functional impairments caused, in whole or in part, by the sexual
violence and abuse. "Clinical victim
support services" includes:
(1) Coordinating with other health care
providers, such as primary care physicians, behavioral and mental health care
providers, and hospitals;
(2) Assisting victims of sexual violence and
abuse in obtaining appropriate government entitlements, access, insurance
coverage, and other appropriate programs and services offered by government agencies
and community organizations; and
(3) Coordinating with schools, employers, and
other individuals and entities concerning a victim of sexual violence and abuse.
"Victim of sexual violence and
abuse" means an individual who suffers from one or more mental disorders caused,
in whole or in part, by sexual violence and abuse."
SECTION 3. Section 431M-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) All individual and
group policies of accident and health or sickness insurance [policies]
issued in this State, individual or group hospital or medical service plan
contracts, and nonprofit mutual benefit society, fraternal benefit
society, and health maintenance organization health
plan contracts shall include within their hospital and medical coverage the
benefits of alcohol use disorder, substance use disorder, and mental health
treatment services, including services for alcohol dependence and drug
dependence[,] and clinical victim support services for victims of
sexual violence and abuse, except that this section shall not apply to
insurance policies that are issued solely for single diseases, or otherwise
limited, specialized coverage."
SECTION 4. Section 431M-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b)
Mental illness benefits.
(1) Covered benefits for mental health services set forth in this subsection shall be limited to coverage for diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All mental health services shall be provided under an individualized treatment plan approved by a physician, psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed mental health counselor, advanced practice registered nurse, or licensed dietitian treating eating disorders, and must be reasonably expected to improve the patient's condition. An individualized treatment plan approved by a licensed clinical social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed mental health counselor, advanced practice registered nurse, or a licensed dietitian treating eating disorders, for a patient already under the care or treatment of a physician or psychologist shall be done in consultation with the physician or psychologist;
(2) In-hospital and nonhospital residential
mental health services as a covered benefit under this chapter shall be provided
in a hospital or a nonhospital residential facility. The services to be covered shall include those
services required for licensure and accreditation;
(3) Mental health partial hospitalization
as a covered benefit under this chapter shall be provided by a hospital or a mental
health outpatient facility. The services
to be covered under this paragraph shall include those services required for licensure
and accreditation; and
(4) Mental health outpatient services, including clinical victim support services, shall be a covered benefit under this chapter."
SECTION 5. Section 23-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall not apply to this Act.
SECTION 6. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the coverage and reimbursement for clinical victim support services for victims of sexual violence and abuse required under sections 3 and 4 of this Act shall also apply to all health benefit plans under chapter 87A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, issued, renewed, modified, altered, or amended on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
Insurance; Benefits; Clinical Victim Support Services; Victims of Sexual Violence and Abuse
Description:
Clarifies that clinical victim support services for victims of sexual violence and abuse are a mental health outpatient services benefit required to be covered under health insurance policies offered by health insurers, mutual benefit societies, fraternal benefit societies, and health maintenance organizations. (SB1036 HD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.