Health care reform is a top priority for President Obama. But, did you know that Hawaii tried a similar program and it turned out to be a failure? According to www.hawaiireporter.com, "Hawaii created a universal health insurance program in hopes of reaching the uninsured population, but found that more than eight in ten of those who enrolled previously had insurance. Lawmakers decided to terminate this program just seven months after its launch.
Government programs to create free or subsidized insurance will encourage many who currently have private insurance to join the government program. This is inefficient and will ultimately erode the private insurance system in the United States."
…and this is bad because?
Well, universal health care is just that-universal. So they tossed it aside because people were using it? If they didn’t want universal health care, they shouldn’t have instituted universal health care. If they were trying to insure the un- or under- insured, then that’s what they should have done.
This is a very misleading article on multiple points. First of all, Obama’s health care reform plan and the Hawaii plan have very little in common. Second, Hawaii did not institute universal health care, only universal for children. More importantly, the Hawaii plan should NOT be used as an indictment on universal care, only on the lack of foresight that went into that state’s implementation of the concept. Universal health care has created superior results at lower costs in countries throughout the world, and nearly half our health care expenses in this country are already publicly financed anyway. The market can never insure those in the lower income ranges in any case.
neoredpill said…”More importantly, the Hawaii plan should NOT be used as an indictment on universal care, only on the lack of foresight that went into that state’s implementation of the concept.”
So what makes you think that Congress will be able to provide adequate foresight to insure proper implementation when being pushed to pass the bill before August?
And private health insurance has proven to be so freaking successful????
What a partial truth answer Bobbie Sage has written – some would call it a lie. Hawaii has mandated employer-provided health care since 1974, with Hawaii’s businesses paying the highest percentage of employee health insurance premiums in the country because the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act (PHCA) requires almost all Hawaii employers to provide health insurance to employees who work 20 hours or more for four consecutive weeks with an employee’s contribution to health insurance coverage not exceeding 1.5 percent of wages. The result is a per-capita total health cost that is 60% of the US average – about the same as the rest of the world, with a lower than the national average uninsured rate. The new “universal program” was for children only and was stopped due to budget concerns, leaving intact the great coverage and low cost that comes from mandatory affordable employer provision of coverage. The insurance companies 31% overhead has to end and will only end via a public option and an affordable mandate – either via subsidy as in the Senate Bill or via mandatory employer contribution as in Hawaii. Please have Bobbie Sage contact an actuary – I am a retired actuary – before she writes her next piece on insurance.
“eight in ten of those who enrolled previously had insurance”
This is dishonest. People previously had it for many reasons. You present the illusion of “flocking” to the new free option and overloading it.
Actually I “previously had insurance” myself. That is until I cold no longer be covered under my parents’ plan. I have a congenital heart condition that requires a pacer, and yearly following. And now thanks to the American system (which is basically left to the discretion of private insurers) I am consistently rejected and uninsured. I’m now likely to file my first medical bankruptcy and lose my home in the next year.
So, instead of generating these partisan political myths about the “dangers” of this or that type of healthcare… how about we all just collaborate to make something fair & ethical that actually works? I mean seriously…
In countries with universal coverage that is done privately, the government does not necessarily subsidize health plans, the health plans themselves offer a sliding scale based on peoples income. I think they are able to write these off as a business loss. But enlarge these plans are very strictly regulated and are allowed to make much smaller profits than insurance companies here -the way we regulate our utility companies. That is another option our politicians are too impotent to take on.
“Lawmakers decided to terminate this program…”
I thought the Republican Governor cancelled it
Insurance company overhead isn’t much more than the government overhead. Insurance company profits have not been extreme… ranging between 3% to 7% – quite average if not low for a business.
Hawaii businesses have tended to use part-time workers more than full-time because of the mandate on employers. It is not uncommon to hold 2 part-time jobs in place of a full-time job in Hawaii.
People who were already supplying their children with insurance coverage began dropping it and adding them to the state’s universal child plan. This created a huge budget shortfall since it was only expected to add those children who were not covered originally.
All of these are reasons why Hawaii can not be used as a model…
How can someone so ignorant on insurance maintain an insurance blog?
This article is misleading. Hawaii did not end its employer mandated health care plan. It continues as it has – successfully – for the past 40 years. They did end a universal plan that was intended to cover children and that plan had been in effect for only about 7 months.
Shame on you for shoddy reporting and yellow journalism.
good! we need to get rid of private healthcare!! this article makes no sense lol
Alright Bobbie stop wasting our time with your crap and go back to watching Fox News
Fran, I agree. I lived in canada for many years and the universal healthcare there is very good. I think its disgusting that people living in the same community would have unequal access to dr and medicines. These are things that save peoples lives. It is at the top of important things, along with food and housing.
As mentioned elsewhere REALLY BAD ARTICLE AND BAD RESEARCH! The Hawaian health coverage is basically universal due to employer mandated participation in offering healthcare to employees. As mentioned the Universal plan was for CHILDREN.
Angela – More tea party lies? By THEIR own admission, private insurance companies make profits between 15% and 30% vs. the 1-3% Medicare costs for administration. And Medicare negotiates lower rates that are more reflective of the actual costs.