Universal health
care in doubtFederal approval may be needed
to change laws, a senator says
Hawaii would likely need congressional approval to establish some form of universal health care, said Sen. Rosalyn Baker, co-chairwoman of the Working Group for Universal Health Care.
Establishing a universal health care plan would require amending or replacing the state Prepaid Health Care Act, which required an exemption from a federal law that prevents states from adopting employer mandates for health care, Baker said. Congress would have to approve any changes to the act. No other state has an exemption to the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
The Hawaii law requires employers to contribute to health care insurance for employees who work at least 20 hours a week. Under universal health care, everyone is covered.
"So what we've done over the years, we haven't amended Prepaid Health, we amended the insurance laws," said Baker (D, Honokohau-Makena).
When Congress granted Hawaii the exemption in 1983, an estimated 5 percent of the state's population was uninsured, the lowest in the country. That number has risen over the years to 10 percent, dropping Hawaii to 13th last year.
The Working Group for Universal Health Care has been conducting informational hearings to find out why health care costs are skyrocketing and what can be done to control them.
Baker said the committee is also keeping an eye on California's health care employer mandate, which Gov. Gray Davis signed into law last month but which is undergoing legal challenges.
The committee is also watching Maine's universal health care plan, which was signed into law this summer but is not scheduled to take effect until July, she said.
