Neil Abercrombie: “Not only has Hawaii been able to achieve near universal coverage, they have done so with no negative impact, no negative…”

“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.”