§393-7 - Required health care benefits.
§393-7 Required health care benefits. (a) A prepaid health care plan shall qualify as a plan providing the mandatory health care benefits required under this chapter if it provides for health care benefits equal to, or medically reasonably substitutable for, the benefits provided by prepaid health plans of the same type, as specified in section 393-12(a)(1) or (2), which have the largest numbers of subscribers in the State. This applies to the types and quantity of benefits as well as to limitations on reimbursability, including deductibles, and to required amounts of co-insurance.
The director, after advice by the prepaid health care advisory council, shall determine whether benefits provided in a plan, other than the plan of the respective type having the largest numbers of subscribers in the State, comply with the standards specified in this subsection.
(b) A prepaid group health care plan shall also qualify for the mandatory health care benefits required under this chapter if it is demonstrated by the health care plan contractor offering such coverage to the satisfaction of the director after advice by the prepaid health care advisory council that the plan provides for sound basic hospital, surgical, medical, and other health care benefits at a premium commensurate with the benefits included taking proper account of the limitations, co-insurance features, and deductibles specified in such plan. Coverage under a plan which provides aggregate benefits that are more limited than those provided by plans qualifying under subsection (a) shall be in compliance with section 393-11 only if the employer contributes at least half of the cost of the coverage of dependents under such plan.
(c) Subject to the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) without limiting the development of medically more desirable combinations and the inclusion of new types of benefits, a prepaid health care plan qualifying under this chapter shall include at least the following benefit types:
(1) Hospital benefits:
(A) In-patient care for a period of at least one hundred twenty days of confinement in each calendar year covering:
(i) Room accommodations;
(ii) Regular and special diets;
(iii) General nursing services;
(iv) Use of operating room, surgical supplies, anesthesia services, and supplies;
(v) Drugs, dressings, oxygen, antibiotics, and blood transfusion services.
(B) Out-patient care:
(i) Covering use of out-patient hospital;
(ii) Facilities for surgical procedures or medical care of an emergency and urgent nature.
(2) Surgical benefits:
(A) Surgical services performed by a licensed physician, as determined by plans meeting the standards of subsections (a) and (b);
(B) After-care visits for a reasonable period;
(C) Anesthesiologist services.
(3) Medical benefits:
(A) Necessary home, office, and hospital visits by a licensed physician;
(B) Intensive medical care while hospitalized;
(C) Medical or surgical consultations while confined.
(4) Diagnostic laboratory services, x-ray films, and radio- therapeutic services, necessary for diagnosis or treatment of injuries or diseases.
(5) Maternity benefits, at least if the employee has been covered by the prepaid health care plan for nine consecutive months prior to the delivery.
(6) Substance abuse benefits:
(A) Alcoholism and drug addiction are illnesses and shall receive benefits as such. In-patient and out-patient benefits for the diagnosis and treatment of substance abuse, including but not limited to alcoholism and drug addiction, shall be specifically stated and shall not be less than the benefits for any other illness, except as provided in this subsection. Medical treatment of substance abuse shall not be limited or reduced by restricting coverage to the mental health or psychiatric benefits of a plan. However, any psychiatric services received as a result of the treatment of substance abuse may be limited to the psychiatric benefits of the plan.
(B) Out-patient benefits provided by a physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist, without restriction as to place of service; provided that health plans of the type specified in section 393-12(a) shall retain for the contractor the option of:
(i) Providing the benefits in its own facility and utilizing its own staff, or
(ii) Contracting for the provision of these benefits, or
(iii) Authorizing the patient to utilize outside services and defraying or reimbursing the expenses at a rate not to exceed that for provision of services utilizing the health contractor's own facilities and staff.
(C) Detoxification and acute care benefits in a hospital or any other public or private treatment facility, or portion thereof, providing services especially for the detoxification of intoxicated persons or drug addicts, which is appropriately licensed, certified, or approved by the department of health in accordance with the standards prescribed by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals. In-patient benefits for detoxification and acute care shall be limited in the case of alcohol abuse to three admissions per calendar year, not to exceed seven days per admission, and shall be limited in the case of other substance abuse to three admissions per calendar year, not to exceed twenty-one days per admission.
(D) Prepaid health plans shall not be required to make reimbursements for care furnished by government agencies and available at no cost to a patient, or for which no charge would have been made if there were no health plan coverage.
(d) The prepaid health care advisory council shall be appointed by the director and shall include representatives of the medical and public health professions, representatives of consumer interests, and persons experienced in prepaid health care protection; provided that a person representing a health maintenance organization under chapter 432D, a mutual benefit society issuing individual and group hospital or medical service plans under chapter 432, or any other health care organization shall not be a member. The membership of the council shall not exceed seven individuals. [L 1974, c 210, pt of §1; am L 1976, c 25, §2; am L 2003, c 206, §2]
Law Journals and Reviews
Implementation of Hawai`i's Prepaid Health Care Act: Root Cause of a Health Care Monopoly. VII HBJ No. 13, at pg. 9.