Hawai`i Receives $1.3 Million Grant to Ensure Access to Affordable Health Insurance

HONOLULU – The State Department of Health, in partnership with The Hawai’i Uninsured Project, is one of three states nationwide to be awarded a $1.3 million grant through the The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Coverage Initiative (SCI) program. The 2002 (or 2003; it had a 1/1/03 start date) The 2003 demonstration grant will support efforts over a three-year period to develop and implement programs to make affordable health insurance available to uninsured people in the state.

"This grant represents the beginning of a strong collaborative effort by private and public sectors to meet the health insurance needs of Hawaii’s people," Governor Linda Lingle said. "The assurance of affordable health care for Hawaii residents is a priority of this Administration and we look forward to working together with providers to make more options available to Hawaii residents."

This second grant comes on the heels of a 2001, $150,000 SCI policy planning grant that brought people together for a health summit and initiated the work necessary for Hawaii to begin to look at available options. Now in its fourth year, The Hawai’i Uninsured Project (HUP) is surveying the community, analyzing data, and developing economic models to identify cost-effective strategies that will cover the greatest number of uninsured. Administered by the Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs, HUP was initiated by a consortium of organizations dedicated to making health care more accessible to the people of Hawaii.

Organizations involved in this collaboration with the Department of Health include: the HMSA Foundation, Hawaii Pacific Health, Department of Human Services, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Papa Ola Lokahi, Hawai’i Primary Care Association, Hawai’i Health Information Corporation, Aloha United Way, Hawai’i Community Foundation, University of Hawai’i, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Benefit Plan Consultants, Inc., Healthcare Association of Hawai’i, Molokai General Hospital, Hawaiian Electric Industries, Hawaii Covering Kids, Kaiser Permanente, and Ho’ola Lahui Hawaii.

"Over the past decade, our rate of uninsured has doubled; from being ranked first in the nation with the lowest number of uninsured in the early ‘90s, we’ve gone to number 13," HUP Executive Director Joan White said, "The U.S. Census estimates the uninsured rate in Hawaii to be 10.7%, which translates to about 117,000 people. This is a matter that affects us all through higher health care costs, decreased productivity and increased use of social services that are paid for by all taxpayers."

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, NJ, is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grant-making in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic quality health care at reasonable cost; to improve the quality of care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse – tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.

For more information on The Hawai’i Uninsured Project and to find out ways you can help, log on to www.hipaonline.com/uninsured.

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