Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 6, 1 June 1990 — State Health lnsurance Plan enrollment is open July 1-7 [ARTICLE]

State Health lnsurance Plan enrollment is open July 1-7

A state program for basic health coverage will have an enrollment period July 1 through July 7. Coverage with the State Health Insurance Plan (SH1P) is designed to help people unable to get insurance and who find they cannot afford health care. Also eligible are individuals and families who are employed and make too mueh money to qualify for Medicaid but who do not have access to health insurance plans at their plaee of work. The SHIP cost ean range from zero to $60-per-month for coverage. There is a $5-per-visit cost for most services. The basic ineome guidelines are: People in family ineome One $21,672 or less Two $29,052 or less Three $36,432 or less Four $43,812 or less

ineome levels for families larger than four people are available at the state SHIP office. The phone number is 548-7786 on O'ahu. Neighbor Islanders may eall toll free to 1-800-468-4644, extension 7786. The SHIP address is 1000 Bishop St., Room 908, Honolulu, Hawai'i, 96813. Eligibility for SHIP To be eligible for enrollment in SHIP, a person must be a resident of Hawai'i; must have been without health insurance for three months; must not be eligible for any U.S. government-sponsored programs that provide health-care benefits including Medicaid, Medicare or Champus; must not be employed or be eligible for benefits under the Hawai'i Prepaid Health Care Act as a regular employee and must not have a gross family ineome that exceeds 300 percent of the federal continued page 15

SHIP from poge 1 poverty levei for Hawai'i at the time they apply. Volunteers have been trained as SHIP registrars and are available on all islands. The participating health care providers are Kaiser Permanente and HMSA. SHIP will provide a safety net for people with financial trouble and it should ease the way into regular coverage for people who are building a new life. State officials estimate there are 35,000 in the state eligible for SHIP. They are the unemployed person, the part-time worker, low-ineome selfemployed people, seasonal workers and dependent children. What SHIP offers and costs Through SHIP the state offers subsidized health care from private carriers with as little red tape as possible. Minimum benefits being offered include maternity care, immunization for children, health screenings including Pap smears and mammograms, up to 12 visits to a physician per year, X-ray and diagnostic test, required surgery and up to five days in the hospital. SHIP members will pay $5 per visit. Some will pay part of the premium for coverage (see table of ineome above). People below the poverty level will pay nothing, and those above the poverty level, but who need help, will pay on a sliding scale. Applications are available at state health department offices throughout the islands.