The 2008 Hawaii Health and Long-Term Care Survey

The issue of having access to affordable, quality health and long-term care services in Hawaii is in the forefront of many residents' minds. AARP Hawaii commissioned a telephone survey of 1,043 Hawaii residents ages 18 and older who identified themselves as registered voters. Key findings include the following:

• Over half of respondents (57%) indicate that the state of health and long-term care in Hawaii is either in a state of crisis or has major problems. While 84 percent of respondents are insured, only 58 percent of those are either very or completely satisfied with their current health plan coverage. Similar to the rest of the country, Hawaii's health care costs are on the rise, and 42 percent of respondents indicate that their out-of-pocket medical expenses have increased a lot over the past five years.
• Over half of these voters are extremely or very concerned about having to pay more for health care in the future (56%) and adequacy of affordable health care in the next five years (52%), while 46 percent are extremely or very concerned that they will not be able to afford needed health care services in the future.
• Respondents overwhelmingly prefer to receive long-term care services in the home (69%), either with assistance from family and friends or paid care. They also say that they want AARP to advocate for better funding for these home and community-based services that allow citizens to remain in their homes and communities, and many (71%) approve such focus even in the face of reduced funding for nursing homes.
• Almost two-thirds (62%) strongly or somewhat support paying a small monthly premium for a public long-term care insurance program.

This survey of 1,043 self-identified registered Hawaii voters age 18+ was conducted by FGI Research, Inc. between December 20, 2007, and January 20, 2008. For more information, contact Joanne Binette at 202-434-6303. (30 pages)