Bill > SB2680

This bill aims to expand the provisions of Hawaii's "Our Care, Our Choice Act" to improve access to medical aid-in-dying for terminally ill individuals. The key changes include: 1. Authorizing advanced practice registered nurses, in addition to physicians, to provide medical aid-in-dying services within their scope of practice and prescribing authority. 2. Allowing licensed psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and marriage and family therapists, alongside psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers, to provide the required counseling to qualified patients. 3. Reducing the mandatory waiting period between oral requests from 20 days to 15 days. 4. Waiving the mandatory waiting period for terminally ill individuals not expected to survive the waiting period. 5. Strengthening the confidentiality protections for information collected under the law. The goal of these changes is to increase access to end-of-life care options for terminally ill individuals in Hawaii, particularly those living in remote or underserved areas, by expanding the pool of qualified providers and reducing administrative barriers.

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https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2680&year=2022