Bill > SR26

This resolution strongly supports the implementation of the Revised 2025 Hawaii Patient Bill of Rights, a comprehensive update to healthcare protections that addresses modern challenges in the state's healthcare system. The resolution aims to modernize patient rights by tackling issues such as AI-driven insurance decisions, data security risks, and persistent provider shortages, particularly in rural and neighbor island areas. Key provisions include mandating clear patient communications, ensuring timely specialist referrals, protecting emergency care coverage, establishing robust data privacy standards, and creating transparent prior authorization processes with strict turnaround times for urgent and non-urgent requests. The bill requires insurers to maintain accurate provider directories, provide comprehensive explanations of care options, and implement strong patient autonomy protections, while also establishing rigorous oversight mechanisms for the Insurance Commissioner to audit, investigate, and enforce these new standards. Additionally, the resolution introduces specific protections around AI decision-making, requiring human specialist review of AI-generated coverage denials, mandates HIPAA-equivalent data security for both onshore and offshore data handling, and creates a multidisciplinary advisory group to continually review and update patient protections. The implementation will be phased, with some provisions taking immediate effect and others allowed a transition period of six to twelve months, reflecting a collaborative approach to transforming Hawaii's healthcare patient rights framework.

Health and Social Services

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SR&billnumber=26&year=2025