Requesting The Auditor To Assess Both The Social And Financial Effects Of Proposed Mandated Health Insurance Coverage For A Percentage Of The Costs Of Intravenous Ketamine Therapy To Treat Depression.
Summary
Senate Resolution 4 requests that the Hawaii State Auditor study the social and financial effects of a proposed mandate requiring health insurance coverage for a percentage of the costs of intravenous ketamine therapy for depression. The resolution is tied to a separate, unspecified bill that would require insurers to cover this treatment, and it invokes Hawaii law requiring an auditor’s report before the Legislature considers a health insurance coverage mandate.
The requested report must evaluate both the public-health implications and the fiscal impact of the proposed coverage requirement, and it must include findings, recommendations, and any suggested legislation. The Auditor is directed to submit the report to the Legislature no later than 20 days before the 2026 regular session, and copies are to be sent to the Auditor and the Insurance Commissioner.
Impact
SR4 does not itself change insurance coverage requirements or amend the Hawaii Revised Statutes. Instead, it triggers the statutory review process under section 23-51, HRS, for a proposed mandated benefit related to ketamine therapy. Its practical effect is to delay final legislative action on the underlying insurance mandate until the Auditor completes a social and financial impact assessment, which could influence whether, how, or at what level the coverage mandate is adopted.
Sentiment
The resolution appears generally supportive of exploring ketamine therapy as a treatment for depression, especially treatment-resistant depression, and frames the issue as a public health and mental health access question. Because it is a study resolution rather than a direct mandate, it is a relatively low-conflict measure and reflects a cautious, information-gathering approach. No votes or committee transcripts were provided, so there is no recorded formal opposition or support beyond the resolution’s stated findings.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely the underlying insurance mandate, not the resolution itself: whether insurers should be required to cover a percentage of intravenous ketamine therapy costs for depression, and what that would mean for premiums, utilization, and access. Potential concerns include the treatment’s evidence base, cost to plans and policyholders, and whether mandated coverage is appropriate before broader clinical and financial review. Supporters would likely emphasize mental health need, treatment-resistant depression, and potential rapid antidepressant effects, while skeptics would focus on fiscal impact and medical necessity.
Same As
Requesting The Auditor To Assess Both The Social And Financial Effects Of Proposed Mandated Health Insurance Coverage For A Percentage Of The Costs Of Intravenous Ketamine Therapy To Treat Depression.
A resolution to direct the Clerk of the House of Representatives to only present to the Governor enrolled House bills finally passed by both houses of the One Hundred Third Legislature.
Relating to nonsubstantive additions to, revisions of, and corrections in enacted codes, to the nonsubstantive codification or disposition of various laws omitted from enacted codes, and to conforming codifications enacted by the 88th Legislature to other Acts of that legislature.