Pulse of health care strong at Legislature

The state Legislature is getting kudos for an array of bills to meet community health needs, from helping financially distressed hospitals and the uninsured to patients needing medicine for severe pain.

"It was a very successful legislative session for health care," said Dr. Virginia Pressler, executive vice president of Strategic Business Development at Hawaii Pacific Health.

Pending the governor's review are bills providing $1 million to help offset costs of treating the uninsured at community health centers and $5.8 million to private hospitals for uninsured care, to be matched with $7.5 million from the federal government.

Remote dispensing pharmacies could be established under another bill proposed to make more medicines available to patients at community health centers.

Lawmakers provided $14 million in emergency funds for state hospitals (excluding Maui Memorial Medical Center) operated by the Hawaii Health Systems Corp. and $10 million for Hawaii State Hospital for the mentally ill in Kaneohe, noted Rep. Josh Green (D, North Kona-Keauhou-Kailua-Kona-Honokohau). The governor has approved both measures.

Green also cited bills to expand health insurance coverage to children of families losing jobs from closures of airlines or other companies and requiring health insurers to offer group rates to sole proprietors of little businesses or home enterprises.

Green's idea of a Hawaii Health Corps Program to address physician shortages in rural areas was adopted with a bill calling for a task force to draft a program for implementation Jan. 1, 2010.

Green credited Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Rosalyn Baker (D, Honokohau-Makena), and House Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa-Poamoho) "for their diligence" in supporting appropriations for health care.

Baker, a cancer survivor who volunteers with the American Cancer Society and Comprehensive Cancer Coalition, said one of the major bills passed clarifies a patient's right to be prescribed narcotics to relieve pain.

"This is one of the real issues toward end of life, particularly for some cancer patients," she said. "Doctors don't want to prescribe controlled substances. They're afraid patients will get addicted."

Legislators worked on the bill with Kokua Mau, a coalition of groups dedicated to improving end-of-life care, and some doctors to put nationally recognized standards in place for patients needing controlled substances for quality of life, she said. "It is very landmark legislation. It's going to make a huge difference to a lot of people."

Baker led a task force that produced a comprehensive plan to address overcrowding and staff safety at Hawaii State Hospital through changes in the mental health and court systems, and several bills would implement recommendations.

State Health Director Chiyome Fukino said "some very good strides" were made in the mental health area through a bipartisan effort.

One bill would require county police departments to submit police reports to the Health Department on defendants committed to the Kaneohe hospital. Another would allow disclosure to the Health Department of a person's treatment summary over the previous five years from one doctor to another.

The health director also would be allowed to assess a patient's condition and apply to court for release someone from Hawaii State Hospital who is on conditional release, Fukino said, pointing out Hawaii has one of the highest numbers of patients with mental illness on conditional release per capita in the nation.

Some patients end up stuck in the hospital or the conditional release process for a long time on technical reasons when they do not need to be there, Fukino said.

The Legislature provided funding for 25 positions and operational expenses for a secured residential treatment facility at the state hospital, Fukino said.