Bill Text: HI HB1384 | 2011 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Insurance; Prior Authorization; Working Group
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-03-10 - (S) Referred to CPN/HTH, WAM. [HB1384 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2011-HB1384-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1384 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 |
H.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that prior authorization for prescription medications requires that physicians obtain approval from a health insurance carrier to prescribe a specific medication for their patients. Without this prior authorization, a health insurance carrier may not provide coverage, or pay for, patient medication. Despite its growing visibility and importance, the prior authorization process is often manual and non-standard, creating administrative burdens and costs to healthcare providers and health insurance carriers. It also may result in patients experiencing delays in getting prescriptions filled, leading to potentially adverse health impacts.
While prescription drugs requiring prior authorization consist of only a small fraction of all prescribed medications, the number of drugs requiring prior authorization and the number of prior authorizations have grown rapidly in recent years. Hence, prior authorization has become a widely adopted method of drug use management.
In February 2010, the Minnesota department of health, in its report entitled "Electronic Drug Prior Authorization Standardization and Transmission", suggested the following best approaches to standardize prior authorization requests, including:
(1) Extensive use of direct, computer-to-computer, automated electronic data interchange, based on well-established, widely-used national standards that are well suited to the drug prior authorization transaction;
(2) A single, standard list of drugs requiring prior authorizations, and a standard set of questions used by payers to gather supplemental information needed to process prior authorization requests, that are the same across all payers; and
(3) Full and effective integration with other healthcare electronic data exchange, especially electronic prescribing and electronic health records.
The purpose of this Act is to convene a working group to discuss improvements to the existing prior authorization process for medications.
SECTION 2. (a) The John A. Burns school of medicine shall convene a working group comprised of healthcare providers, pharmacists, insurance carriers, health maintenance organizations, governmental agencies, and other key stakeholders to discuss potential improvements to the current prior authorization process for prescription medications.
(b) The working group shall provide a report of proceedings, recommendations, and results on implementing this Act to the legislature not later than thirty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2012.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
Insurance; Prior Authorization; Working Group
Description:
Requires a working group to discuss potential improvements to the current prior authorization process for prescription medications. Effective July 1, 2050. (HB1384 HD2)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
