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House committee advances Kauai pilot to let trained psychologists prescribe — with limits
Summary
The House Committee on Health advanced Senate Bill 847 to create a limited, three‑year pilot on Kauai allowing qualified psychologists to prescribe certain psychotropic medications under psychiatrist supervision, after extensive testimony about training, safety and workforce needs.
The House Committee on Health on March 20 voted to advance Senate Bill 847, a pilot program that would let specially trained psychologists prescribe a limited set of psychotropic medications at a federally qualified health center on Kauai.
Chair Greg Takayama, opening the committee's decision session, said the measure seeks to address mental‑health access shortages on Kauai while emphasizing caution: “We should do something to improve the situation but be cautious in doing so,” he told the committee as he recommended advancing the bill with several technical and substantive amendments.
Why it matters: Supporters said the pilot would expand access in areas with few psychiatrists. Critics, mainly from the medical community and DOH, argued the training and oversight in the draft needed strengthening to avoid patient harm. The committee's amendments reflect a compromise: the pilot will be limited in duration…
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