Hawaii was the first state in the country to enact a law for universal health care for children, back in 2007. The State Legislature created the program, names Keiki Care, and was formed to give children of any income level health insurance.
Children enrolled in Keiki Care received health insurance free of charge, save a $7 copayment for a doctor's office visit, reported CNN and the Associated Press. But the Governor Linda Lingle axed the program just seven months after it went into effect, citing an overall $900 budget deficit by 2011.
The move will mean 2,000 children in Hawaii will lose their health insurance. Governor Lingle's administration also said that most of the children enrolled in the Keiki Care program dropped their private individual health insurance coverage for the free care.
"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free. I don't believe that was the intent of the program." said an administrator at the state Department of Human Services. But some were taken aback by the Republican governor's decision.
A spokesperson for the Hawaii Medical Service Association was credited with saying, "We're very disappointed in the state's decision, and it came as a complete surprise to us. We believe the program is working, and given Hawaii's economic uncertainty, we don't think now is the time to cut all funding for this kind of program." There a couple items we visualize with this cut in the program.
It seems a little weird that the governor would sign the program into law last year, and not realize a deficit in the future. As well as the fact that 2,000 children will have their insurance dropped, it seems strange that a governor would approve a law, then kill it soon after. Lawmakers seem to agree with this observation.
Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland (HI) says, "Children are a lot more vulnerable in terms of needing care. It's not very good to try to be a leader and then renege on that commitment." in addition, when it is seen that many are dropping their private care for the Keiki Care, they wonder if it was to cheat the system or were they paying too much for their private plans? We are all looking to Governor Lingle to explain this to us.