New laws to affect health and dental care, Kona airport

Beginning Sunday, Hawaii health insurers will be prohibited from discriminating against people based on gender identity; restaurant workers and medical professionals will be banned from using latex gloves; women will be able to get 12-month supplies of birth control pills; and more health care providers will be able to prescribe medical marijuana.

Those are just some of the new laws affecting Hawaii residents and businesses in the new year.

Kona Airport will also officially be renamed Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport, after Hawaii’s first astronaut. Onizuka was born on Hawaii island and became the first Japanese-American to venture into space.

He was among the seven astronauts who died when space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., in 1986.

Many of the laws that were passed by state lawmakers this year and take effect at the start of 2017 directly affect residents’ health care.

Under Act 135, Hawaii joins a growing number of states in ensuring transgender patients are protected from discrimination in health care coverage. This includes coverage for basic wellness services, and potentially procedures and ongoing care relating to gender reassignment procedures.

While the law does not require insurers to expand coverage for services not covered in a plan, it does prohibit discrimination based on gender identity for medical care already included.

The measure attracted support from equal-rights organizations, including the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, the American Civil Liberties Union, Equality Hawaii and the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party.

Advocates for the transgender community hope that the measure will help pave the way for ensuring that gender reassignment surgeries and associated medical care will be widely covered by insurance plans.

“Individuals who are prevented from obtaining health care to aid in transition face high rates of suicide, and a lack of even more generalized health care due to anti-transgender stigmas that are, in part, exacerbated by these types of discriminatory insurance policies,” according to testimony on the measure from Equality Hawaii, which advocates on behalf of the LGBT community.

While the law overwhelmingly passed the Legislature, it did garner opposition from some Republicans, including Rep. Bob McDermott, who argued during the legislative session that those seeking sex changes instead needed psychological care.

Women will also be able to obtain a year’s supply of birth control pills under Act 205, aimed at increasing access to contraception and reducing unintended pregnancies.

Typically, health insurance companies have providedcoverage for only 30- to 90-day prescriptions. Lawmakers argued that the short prescription period could act as a barrier, particularly for women who live in rural areas, frequently travel and are unable to schedule regular visits with health care providers.

Two other bills that sought to increase access to birth control even further by allowing pharmacists to prescribe the pills failed to pass. However, lawmakers indicated that they may take up the proposal again in the coming legislative session.

Another new law seeks to protect those suffering from latex allergies by prohibiting restaurant workers and health care providers from using latex gloves. Nationally it’s estimated that 3 million people suffer from latex allergies, according to the measure.

For those allergic, the latex in gloves can cause mild rashes, difficulty breathing and, in extreme cases, death, according to testimony on the bill.

The measure attracted opposition from dentists, in particular. The Hawaii Dental Association argued that the measure was unnecessary because dentists already ask their patients prior to treatment whether they have a latex allergy and, if so, use different gloves. The association argued that the measure would increase legal liability.

The measure “would only serve to benefit the attorneys seeking stronger grounds or basis for their lawsuits in the rare instance where a mistake is made,” Russel Yamashita, legislative representative for the HDA, wrote in testimony against the bill. “Nothing pleases an attorney more when they can point to a state statute to slam dunk a liability claim.”

State lawmakers also passed Act 230, which makes numerous amendments to Hawaii’s medical marijuana and dispensary laws. In particular, it allows advanced-practice registered nurses to certify patients for medical marijuana use.