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AlohaCare joins
national health
care affiliation

Star-Bulletin staff

AlohaCare, created in 1993 to ensure that low-income Hawaii families have access to health care, has joined forces with 15 health plans across the nation to develop a national agenda to work for medically underserved people.

The new Association for Health Center Affiliated Health Plans will establish an office in Washington, D.C., with some start-up funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The association will distribute information about state-sponsored managed care programs and practices and work to ensure development of health plans affiliated with community health centers.

In the early 1990s, changes to the federal Medicaid system forced other states to close health centers serving low-income families, said John McComas, AlohaCare chief executive officer and secretary of the national group's board of directors.

AlohaCare was established "to ensure Hawaii's low-income families will always be guaranteed access to high-quality health care," he said.

The 16 health plans coordinate health coverage for more than 850,000 people, mostly in Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Programs.