HONOLULU — The cost of running Hawaii’s health insurance marketplace is likely to fall below its original projection of $15 million annually because of low enrollment, its executive director told lawmakers Wednesday. ADVERTISING HONOLULU — The cost of running Hawaii’s
HONOLULU — The cost of running Hawaii’s health insurance marketplace is likely to fall below its original projection of $15 million annually because of low enrollment, its executive director told lawmakers Wednesday.
Tom Matsuda of the Hawaii Health Connector said at a hearing the exchange is working on a business plan that should be ready in two months.
“We all recognize that is maybe too slow,” he said. “We’re trying to accelerate the process.”
The report could affect how lawmakers consider bills to overhaul how Hawaii sells insurance plans under President Barack Obama’s federal health-care overhaul.
The beleaguered exchange has had problems since signups were supposed to begin in October, including software problems, a two-week delay and low enrollment. Lawmakers have proposed several fixes, including absorbing the exchange into a state agency.
Government officials and interest groups testified to oppose that move until the state knows more about what operating the exchange would entail.
Democratic Rep. Della Au Belatti, chairwoman of the House Health Committee, deferred decision on the bill and other measures designed to help the exchange until Friday.
One bill would exclude insurance companies from placing members on the exchange’s governing board. Another would make Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s Office of Health Transformation permanent. The office has been in charge of coordinating the rollout of the federal law in Hawaii.
Members of the Hawaii Health Authority, a 5-year-old health-planning body within the Department of Budget and Finance, said the authority already is set up to coordinate the health-care overhaul.
Successful health care changes in other states “are physician-led, and not controlled by insurance companies,” Dr. Stephen Kemble, a psychiatrist, told lawmakers. He criticized Hawaii’s health transformation as too favorable to health insurers at the expense of patients and doctors.
