HI SCR52

Requests the State Auditor to assess the social and financial effects of mandating health insurance coverage for medically necessary treatment of orofacial anomalies, including cleft lip and cleft palate.

Requires the Auditor to submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the Regular Session of 2014.

Notes that Hawaii has an estimated rate of one in five hundred children with orofacial disorders, with higher rates among Asian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino populations.

Highlights that orthodontic care for orofacial anomalies is already covered under Hawaii Medicaid but not by commercial health insurance, and that seventeen other states mandate such coverage.

Mandates notification of the Auditor's findings to the Insurance Commissioner, all state health insurers, and relevant health organizations including the Kapiolani Cleft and Craniofacial Center and American Academy of Pediatrics Hawaii Chapter.