Hawaii Bills Would Keep Parts Of ACA

Feb. 07--Lawmakers are worried about the more than 113,000 Hawaii residents who stand to lose health coverage if Obamacare is repealed.

Roughly 13,000 residents were covered by the federal Affordable Care Act in 2016 and could become uninsured if President Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress change the law, state Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito told lawmakers Monday at an informational briefing. About 80 percent of those individuals received federal tax credits averaging $270 per person per month, or $35 million annually, to reduce the cost of coverage, he said.

More than 100,000 residents covered through an expansion of Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income residents, are also at risk, according to Judy Mohr-Peterson, administrator for the state Department of Human Services Med-QUEST division, which could lose as much as $230 million in federal matching funds for the program.

State lawmakers, anticipating changes to former President Barack Obama's health care insurance law, have crafted legislation to keep parts of Obamacare intact for Hawaii's newly insured residents.

Senate Bill 403 and its identical companion House Bill 552 would ensure that certain aspects of the ACA are retained in Hawaii law. They include a requirement for individuals to have health insurance or face tax penalties, and for local health plans to continue to cover the same health benefits covered under the ACA. Legislators also want to keep an ACA provision that allows young adults to remain on a parent's health plans until age 26, and ban health insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and from using an individual's gender to determine premiums or contributions. House lawmakers are scheduled to hear the bill Wednesday.

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