Summit looks at health-care crisis
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Health Writer
Community leaders yesterday issued a call for action as Hawai'i faces a growing crisis of residents without health insurance.
Hawai'i once proudly laid claim to being the "health-care state" with the lowest number of uninsured in the nation. But it has now slipped to No. 13, with experts blaming the state's ailing economy. The recent census revealed that even before Sept. 11, Hawai'i had 120,000 uninsured, or 1 in 10 people.
"We can no longer lay claim to the territory of being the health state," said Linda Colburn, community facilitator of The Hawai'i Uninsured Project, which is spearheading an effort to fix the problem.
The project set out one year ago to get an accurate picture of who is not insured and to investigate solutions used by other states. Yesterday the project outlined its findings to an audience of about 180, including the heads of state agencies, businesses, unions and community organizations.
"The system is difficult to navigate, it's complicated and it essentially leaves a lot of people so frustrated that they cease to try to get insurance," she said.
Some simply cannot afford the premiums. Others, who are self-employed, find it too difficult to get enrolled. Others work part-time, which means they don't get benefits but their income makes them ineligible for public coverage. Rural residents also have difficulties because specialty care is not available.
Moloka'i resident Linda Johnston, who is self-employed, told summit attendees about her frustration trying to find health insurance.
She tried three companies, but they either did not cover Moloka'i, wanted her to take expensive tests as part of her application, or would not take her because she did not previously have insurance.
"I just gave up," she said. "It was my understanding that Hawai'i was such a wonderful place because it had such a good health insurance industry here and that everyone was covered ... and I found it to be extremely difficult, very frustrating."
Johnston counts her blessings that she is healthy, but said she feels vulnerable.
Research shows that people without health insurance are more likely to delay seeking care, less likely to use preventative services and four times more likely to need avoidable hospitalization. That results in higher costs for health care.
Yesterday's summit included a brainstorming session that resulted in a list of possible solutions, said Andrew Aoki, executive administrator of the HMSA Foundation, which initiated the project.
Aoki said it is clear the state will have to reexamine the Prepaid Health Care Act, the 1974 law mandating coverage for all employees working more than 20 hours a week.
"The economy has changed and more people are working part time jobs so they fall out of that," Aoki said. The state also is missing opportunities to apply for money from federal programs, he said.
The project will work the ideas into a master plan to be completed in June. Other solutions will be pursued at the next legislative session.
