Some skeptics have asked why
Hawaii should invest in universal health insurance
coverage for children.
My answer is this: 1) it is the
responsible and compassionate thing to do for our
children, and 2) it is a good investment.
We know that children with
healthcare coverage have better health outcomes, do
better in school, and ultimately become more productive
members of society requiring LESS state resources.
And don't forget, uninsured
individuals place a financial burden on our already
ailing hospital system.
In short, covering Hawaii's
children is the right thing to do.
Historically Hawaii has done a
better job providing affordable health insurance to it's
people than virtually any other state, primarily because
the Prepaid Health Act of 1974 mandates that our
employers provide health coverage for any workers who
work more than half-time. Today, approximately 10% of
Hawaii residents are uninsured, most of whom are
part-time workers and younger individuals.
The uninsured rates for children
has hovered between 3% and 5% for the past several
years. In an attempt to push that number to 0%, a
coalition of stakeholders came together over the last 3
years to come up with a plan to cover every child in the
state.
The key players in this attempt
at universal coverage for children have been Hawaii
Covering Kids, the State Legislature, the Department of
Human Services/Governor's office, the Hawaii Primary
Care Association and HMSA. Many other committed
individuals have aided in this mission.
In 2006 the Keiki Care law was
passed to provide healthcare coverage for every child in
Hawaii. Without getting into too much detail, Keiki Care
did three important things;
It made Quest (Medicaid) health insurance
available for free to every child in the state
whose family was at or below 300% of the federal
poverty level. Specifically, a family of 4
making $73,000 or less in Hawaii was guaranteed
gold standard coverage for free for their
children. Only 10 other states are this
progressive.
Keiki Care guaranteed coverage for all legal
immigrant children,
The Keiki Care plan was put into place as a
50:50 public/private partnership between the
State and HMSA to provide free insurance to any
other child who didn't qualify for the other
options mentioned. This program ultimately
covered 2000 children.
At this point, every child in
the state had access to health coverage - through Quest,
Keiki Care or employer programs.
Then the global recession hit
and in spite of maintaining our two steps forward (going
to 300% of federal poverty and covering legal
immigrants) - we had to take one step back when the
Administration was forced to cut the Keiki Care program
temporarily from the budget. This cost was $50,000 per
month and was matched by HMSA.
Senator Chun-Oakland and I will
continue to convene the key stakeholders every 6 weeks
to continue our pursuit of universal coverage for
children in Hawaii.
We are presently reaching out to
the philanthropic community for $600,000 annually to
restore Keiki Care, essentially the final piece of the
puzzle. And we continue to rely on the extraordinary
efforts of Hawaii Covering Kids, DHS and the Primary
Care Association which have kept Hawaii in the top group
of states where covering kids with health insurance is
concerned.
All of the stakeholders continue
to agree that every child needs and deserves health
insurance in Hawaii.
Please contact my office if you
wish to join us in this mission.
