As a general policy, I support health care reform that will make health care available to every citizen who needs it.  The question is both humanitarian and economic: if an uninsured person gets sick, we all end up paying the bill in the end. Our guiding principle must be lowering the cost of health care and making it both affordable and accessible to American families.

In Hawaii, we have long held an enviable position among states as having one of the highest percentages of citizens with health insurance because of our Prepaid Health Care Act (PHCA). Thanks to our Congressional Delegation, Hawaii has maintained PHCA benefits by operating under a waiver of a federal law that established uniform standards for employee health and retirement benefits. 

Our Congressional delegation supports both an exemption from any federal legislation that may impact Hawaii’s existing health care law, and also a change to the federal waiver that will allow Hawaii to make some adjustments to our law and address present conditions. The goal is not to lessen health care benefits, but to make them more sensitive to the current needs of the recipients of health care, the providers, and related businesses as well.  I’ll proudly work with the other members of Hawaii’s Congressional Delegation to make sure this happens.