HI HCR163

Requests the Director of Health to convene and chair a working group to examine the feasibility of implementing arts-based social prescribing within Med-QUEST, private insurance, and prepaid health care plans in Hawaii.

Arts-based social prescribing allows health care providers to prescribe structured arts and cultural activities (music, visual arts, dance, theater) as treatment for mental and behavioral health conditions.

Working group members would include representatives from the Med-QUEST Division, private insurers, prepaid health care plans, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, health care providers, and community-based arts organizations.

The working group must examine legal and regulatory issues for reimbursement, potential impacts on mental health outcomes and costs, data collection methods, and opportunities for pilot programs.

A report with findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation or pilot programs, is due twenty days before the 2027 Regular Session, with the working group dissolving on June 30, 2027.