WAIANAE, Hawaii — Native Hawaiians will need to comply with new work requirements to qualify for Medicaid after being excluded from exemptions carved out for other Indigenous groups, an omission clinicians fear will exacerbate the challenges the marginalized population already faces in getting healthcare.
Kapono Chong-Hanssen says new Medicaid work requirements will erode the trust healthcare providers worked hard to build among Native Hawaiian patients.
Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Vice President Leinaala Kanana and CEO Rich Bettini demonstrate how to use pods throughout the campus that connect patients via phone to an employee who will help them submit needed information and applications to the state’s Medicaid program.
Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center CEO Rich Bettini said Hawaii’s high cost of living and depressed wages pushed many people into homelessness, creating another barrier for Native Hawaiians to comply with new Medicaid requirements.
Ho‘ōla Lāhui, the Native Hawaiian healthcare system on Kauai, operates out of multiple locations, including its clinic in Waimea on the west side of the island.
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Kapono Chong-Hanssen says new Medicaid work requirements will erode the trust healthcare providers worked hard to build among Native Hawaiian patients.
Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Vice President Leinaala Kanana and CEO Rich Bettini demonstrate how to use pods throughout the campus that connect patients via phone to an employee who will help them submit needed information and applications to the state’s Medicaid program.
Ho‘ōla Lāhui, the Native Hawaiian healthcare system on Kauai, operates out of multiple locations, including its clinic in Waimea on the west side of the island.
Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center CEO Rich Bettini said Hawaii’s high cost of living and depressed wages pushed many people into homelessness, creating another barrier for Native Hawaiians to comply with new Medicaid requirements.
