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THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO STUDY THE SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL
    EFFECTS OF MANDATING THE INCLUSION OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
    THERAPY WITHIN MENTAL HEALTH AND ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE
    TREATMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS. 


 1        WHEREAS, marriage and family therapy is the diagnosis and
 2   treatment of mental and emotional disorders within the context
 3   of marriage and family systems; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, marriage and family therapy involves the
 6   professional application of psychotherapeutic and family
 7   systems theories and techniques in the delivery of services to
 8   individuals, couples, and families to treat such disorders; and 
 9   
10        WHEREAS, marriage and family therapists are regulated
11   under Chapter 451J, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), and must
12   meet stringent examination, educational, and experiential
13   requirements for licensure, including passage of the National
14   Marriage and Family Exam, and completion of a post-graduate
15   degree program in marriage and family therapy, a year-long
16   practicum, one thousand hours of direct marriage and family
17   therapy, and two hundred hours of clinical supervision; and  
18   
19        WHEREAS, the National Institute of Mental Health
20   recognizes the marriage and family therapy profession as one of
21   the five core mental health professions along with psychiatry,
22   psychology, clinical social work, and registered nurses; and
23   
24        WHEREAS, under chapter 431M, HRS, physicians,
25   psychologists, clinical social workers, and advanced practice
26   registered nurses are authorized to provide services for mental
27   illness and alcohol and drug dependency under accident and
28   sickness insurance policies and health plan contracts; and 
29    
30        WHEREAS, expanding coverage under chapter 431M, Hawaii
31   Revised Statutes, to include treatment provided by marriage and
32   family therapists would offer consumers of health care for
33   mental illness and alcohol and drug dependency a wider range of
34   treatment options; and

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   
 2        WHEREAS, S.B. No. 860, H.D. 1, proposes to amend chapter
 3   431M, HRS, by broadening the scope of benefits available under
 4   health plans for the treatment of mental illness and alcohol
 5   and drug dependency to include marriage and family therapy; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, section 23-51, HRS, requires that, prior to the
 8   Legislature mandating the inclusion of specific health services
 9   or certain providers of health care services under individual
10   or group health insurance policies, there must be an assessment
11   of the social and financial effects of the proposed mandated
12   coverage; now, therefore,
13   
14        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
15   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
16   Representatives concurring, that the Auditor is requested to
17   assess the social and financial effects of requiring the
18   inclusion of marriage and family therapy as part of mental
19   health and alcohol or drug abuse treatment insurance benefits
20   under section 431M, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
21   
22        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor shall submit its
23   findings and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days
24   before the convening of the Regular Session of 2000; and 
25   
26        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
27   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the
28   Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and the Insurance
29   Commissioner.