REDDIT!
DEL.ICIO.US
DIGG
STUMBLEUPON
BLINKLIST
FURL
Hawaii Health Insurance in 2008
Employer health insurance is the most common type of health insurance in Hawaii, covering 60% of the population, slightly higher than the 54% national average. Hawaii is the only state that requires employers to provide health insurance to employees who work more than twenty hours per week. Medicaid covers 10% of the population and Medicare covers 13%. Nine percent of the people in Hawaii are uninsured, less than the national average of 16%.
Hawaii does not have high risk pool insurance for individuals whose medical conditions prevent them from getting private health insurance. There are no limits on the insurance premiums that can be charged to HIPAA eligible individuals.
Minors, pregnant women, and others with low incomes may qualify for Med-QUEST, Hawaii’s managed care Medicaid program. Low income Hawaiians who are 65 and older, legally blind, or disabled may qualify for the fee-for-service Medicaid program.
Uninsured minors who do not meet the stringent income guidelines for Medicaid may qualify for Hawaii SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. According to Hawaii Covering Kids, some 5% of the state’s youth do not have health insurance.
Hawaii Health Ranking
Hawaii scores well in Medicare recipients’ satisfaction with healthcare providers. Compared to other states, Hawaii also has a low rate of cancer deaths. The rates of lung, prostate, and breast cancer deaths are especially low.
An area in Hawaii’s healthcare system that has potential for improvement and growth, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is cardiac care, with the appropriate medications not always being prescribed in a timely manner after a heart attack.
Hawaii is currently facing a physician shortage. Most agree that this shortage is due at least partly to low levels of reimbursement from insurance companies. One physician complained to NBC News that Hawaii has “the highest cost of living but the lowest reimbursement rates.”
