Hawaii Briefings Shed Light on the Progress of Health Reform

More than 460 Hawaii residents attended health care reform briefings on Oahu and Hawaii in mid-September. The events provided facts about health reform and answered members’ questions about the proposals Congress is considering.

The featured speaker was Greg Wang, AARP’s senior legislative representative for congressional relations.

“We’re very pleased to give Hawaii residents the facts about heath care reform and to cut through the myths and mischaracterizations that are circulating,” said AARP Hawaii State Director Barbara Kim Stanton. “It’s time to get back to the goal of fixing our health care system so everyone has quality, dependable health care they can afford.”

AARP is advocating for reforms that ensure quality, affordable health coverage for members and their families. In particular, we’re fighting to:

Protect Medicare Benefits—We must protect the Medicare benefits seniors have earned. AARP will fight with the strength of our millions of members against any bill that would cut Medicare benefits or increase out-of-pocket costs.

Prevent Discrimination—Health reform must end insurance abuses, such as denials of coverage due to a person’s health history, or using age as an excuse to charge sky-high premiums. Such discrimination has become a serious problem for Americans age 50-plus that need insurance. In Hawaii, more than 26,700 residents age 50-64 were uninsured in 2007—and many of those with insurance were underinsured due to the high cost of coverage.

Eliminate Waste—Coordination must be improved, especially for those with chronic conditions. This would help reduce the costly problem of avoidable readmissions to the hospital. In 2004, 17 percent of Hawaii Medicare beneficiaries discharged from the hospital were re-admitted within 30 days.

Preserve Your Choice of Doctor—AARP is fighting to ensure that doctors get paid fairly. Without reform, Medicare doctors will be forced to take a 21 percent pay cut.