HI SR14

Department of Human Services directed to create a task force including healthcare professionals, armed forces representatives, and veterans groups to study hyperbaric oxygen treatment benefits for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Task force instructed to evaluate feasibility of hyperbaric treatment and identify available Medicare and Medicaid waivers or subsidies to support veteran access to the therapy.

Department of Human Services required to report findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than 20 days before the 2015 Regular Session convening.

Resolution notes that 11-20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans experience PTSD, over 20,000 military members worldwide experienced brain injuries in 2013, and the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs have invested approximately $65 million in complementary and alternative medicine research.

Certified copies of the resolution to be transmitted to the Directors of Human Services and Health, the Executive Director of the Office of Veterans Services, and the Dean of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.