Health centers might
not lose funds

The money cannot be used
to balance the budget,
the state budget director says

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By Helen Altonn and Richard Borreca
haltonn@starbulletin.com, rborreca@starbulletin.com

The $1.6 million cut from 10 community health centers by the Lingle administration may not be gone after all.

"Somehow there was a misunderstanding with the director of the Department of Health that the money was gone because it was used to balance the budget," state Budget Director Georgina Kawamura said last night.

"That money can't be used to balance the budget because it comes from the emergency and rainy day fund," she said. "We can not take it. ... We are at a point where we have to revisit it with the governor."

It is still an issue, however, because no contracts have been issued to release the money to the 10 health centers, Kawamura added.

State Health Director Chiyome Fukino said last night that she had not spoken to the budget director and was not aware of the new development.

The statewide centers, which provide a safety net for medically uninsured and underinsured residents, learned this week from Fukino that they would not get the $1.6 million appropriated by the last Legislature to meet increasing needs.

In an earlier interview yesterday, Fukino said the Health Department asked for release of the money several times last year, but the previous administration restricted it as "new money."

No funds were released or contracts issued to use it, she said.

Based on that information and the need to balance the budget, the rainy day funds were deleted, she said. However, she said the centers would still receive an annual allocation of $1.3 million from the Health Department to serve the uninsured.

She said she is looking for money to assist the community health centers on a long-term basis, and plans to meet with them to explore solutions.

Gov. Linda Lingle's plan for "A New Beginning for Hawaii" included providing the health centers "with consistent funding and adequate reimbursements to cover their costs."

"Every year, they (the centers) are banging at the Legislature for money," Fukino said.

Her goal, she said, is to provide sustained support for services to the uninsured, mentally ill, special-needs children and developmentally disabled.

She said a systematic study must be done to give the Legislature detailed information on the number of people being served, increased needs and how the money is spent.

"We must account for the money we use. ... Do we use money efficiently and well? What can we do to cut costs?" Information must be "based on real needs to use real money, not make-up money," she said.

Federal funding for the health centers is high on her list for Lingle's upcoming Washington trip.

Tapping the state's tobacco settlement money for prevention services is another funding possibility, she said.

But the need for immediate services vs. prevention services creates "an emotional tug" that requires a balancing effort, she said.

For example, she said, should money be used to encourage mothers and children to diet, exercise and avoid smoking, or to fix their teeth?

"The tobacco money is an opportunity to focus more on prevention, but how do we convince people? We're trying really hard to keep as much prevention dollars as we can."