Bill Text: HI SB2342 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Victims Of Sexual Violence.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-08 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC/WAM. [SB2342 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2018-SB2342-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2342 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE.
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, while 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 sexual
violence and abuse can have severe and lasting emotional and mental health
impacts on victims. Victims of sexual
assault during adulthood suffer post-traumatic stress disorder at a rate between
thirty to sixty-five per cent, as well as elevated rates of depressive
disorders, parasuicidal behaviors, and substance use disorders. Victims of sexual abuse during childhood face
numerous psychological challenges at rates higher than people who have not
experienced sexual abuse, including being three to five times more likely to be
diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder; having fifty-two per cent higher
rates of lifetime depression; and experiencing increased rates of suicide, self-harming
behaviors, alcohol use, eating disorders, and disruptions to developmental
processes that lead to personality disorders.
Consequently, many victims of sexual violence and abuse represent mental
health cases that require clinical victim support services by qualified mental
health providers, in addition to psychotherapy, to effectively manage mental disorders
related to sexual violence and abuse.
The legislature also finds that it can be
difficult for victims of sexual violence and abuse to obtain appropriate mental
health services due to the limited availability of qualified mental health
providers who are able to take on potentially complex mental health cases. Clinical victim support services, which are required
for treatment of mental disorders caused, in whole or in part, by sexual
violence and abuse, are not generally covered by health insurers. This is a barrier to sufficient provider
availability, as clinical victim support services are often an unreimbursed
expense that discourages providers from accepting potentially complex cases.
The purpose of this Act is to improve
mental health service availability for victims of sexual violence and abuse by
requiring that accident and health or sickness insurance policies provide coverage
for appropriate clinical victim support services provided by qualified mental
health providers.
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
qualified 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] 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 shall
be a covered benefit under this chapter[.]; and
(5) Clinical victim support services provided
by qualified mental health providers for victims of sexual violence and abuse
shall be a covered benefit under this chapter."
SECTION 5. 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 2, 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 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Report Title:
Insurance; Coverage Benefits; Clinical Victim Support Services; Victims of Sexual Violence and Abuse
Description:
Requires that health insurance policies offered by health insurers, mutual benefit societies, fraternal benefit societies, and health maintenance organizations include coverage for clinical victim support services for victims of sexual violence and abuse who suffer from mental disorders. (SD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
