[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 13 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      HAWAII'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

  (Mr. ABERCROMBIE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, recently the gentleman from Tennessee 
[Mr. Cooper] presented what he called a plan for health care coverage. 
In it he was very critical of a national employer mandate and referred 
to the Hawaii system as an example of one which had employer mandates 
and did not cover all of its residents 100 percent.
  Not only has Hawaii been able to achieve near universal coverage, 
they have done so with no negative impact, no negative impact on the 
business community. Rather, we in Hawaii have achieved a positive 
business growth, decreased unemployment, and have a business failure 
rate below that of the national average.
  Mr. Speaker, our health care system in Hawaii works because it 
requires employers to provide health insurance coverage for their 
workers. Dependents are often covered on a voluntary basis. Employers 
and employees share the cost of the coverage, and both benefit from the 
ready availability of health care.
  The system was selected because it built upon rather than tried to 
duplicate a system which, like the rest of the United States today, 
covered the majority of our people. Our insurance system in Hawaii is 
not overburdened and does not have to shift the cost of care from those 
without insurance to the insured population. Insurers in Hawaii are 
able to provide fair insurance practices and not exclude the sick and 
those with high risk for illnesses.
  In Hawaii all share the costs, all share the benefits. It is the most 
productive social contract we have, and it is the most advanced in the 
United States. And I suggest that the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. 
Cooper] examine the Hawaii system and redo his own bill so that that 
bill just comes up in some small measure to match that of Hawaii. In 
Hawaii our results are better overall health status, lower cost.

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