Tuesday, 16 November 2004 This information supplements handouts. 1. Welcome and Introductions Beth Giesting, executive director of the Hawai‘i Primary Care Association, opened the meeting at 10:00 AM and welcomed the twenty-three attendees. She also introduced guest speakers Ruth Ota and Lillian Koller. 2. Ruth Ota: “The Hawaii Uninsured Project” Hawaii Covering Kids has done a phenomenal job with its grassroots partners to develop and implement strategies that find and enroll children who are eligible for QUEST and Medicaid. Concurrently, Med-QUEST is simplifying its procedures to enroll and retain eligible children and youth. The Hawaii Uninsured Project is funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and has many influential private and public organizations to ensure everyone in the state has access to affordable health insurance. It partners with researchers and community groups to help policymakers develop workable plans based on accurate data. The Complete Enrollment Workgroup is co-chaired by Sylvia Yuen and Ruth Ota. They address children’s health insurance policies so available federal funds are maximized and health insurance is available for all keiki and opio. 3. Lillian Koller: “QUEST: The Next Generation” Hawaii’s waiver program expires on 30 June 2005. All current QUEST eligibility groups will continue and, depending on cost projections and available resources, the Hawaii State Department of Human Services plans to expand services. The goal is to increase access to high quality health care, reduce the number of uninsured children and youth, and preserve Hawai‘i’s generous federal matching funds at sustainable levels. The benefits explained below are placeholders pending additional research. * Extend children’s coverage under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from the current family income level of 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) to at least 225% FPL. * Eliminate a requirement that children must be enrolled in QUEST to continue in QUEST-Net. Therefore, households with incomes between 225-300% FPL would pay a reasonable premium for QUEST health insurance for their children. * All children in the state’s child welfare system will be eligible for QUEST. The few who are not otherwise eligible will be covered by a state-only benefit. These children will receive additional services through the QUEST plans, including direct access to a specially trained health care provider to identify and handle child abuse and a complete examination and assessment within an established number of days of entering the system. * The state will pilot a Health Insurance Flexibility and Accountability (HIFA) program for employed individuals leaving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF). They will be offered COBRA-like premium assistance to purchase their employer’s health insurance for one year after their transitional Medicaid expires. 4. Hawaii Covering Kids Outreach Updates Barbara Luksch highlighted the project’s pharmacy outreach initiative, multilingual flyers, and community training workshops. Details are at New Excitement.