During yesterday's state wide hearing on upcoming changes in Hawaii's Medicaid program, a question was asked regarding Senate Bill 1274, which was passed by our legislature and currently sits on the governor's desk awaiting signature. The bill is strongly opposed by healthcare advocates, and has only been pushed by healthcare industry lobbyists.
Dr. Kenneth Fink, Hawaii state Medicaid director, responded to the question. He stated, extremely clearly, that "to the best of his knowledge" there was only one case that had made its way through the external review process and been found against the health insurer. "Only one" was stated more than once.
I asked Rafael del Castillo about Fink's statement, since he is one of the people in the best position to know how accurate Fink's number is. Here is his response:
I was unable to attend yesterday's conference concerning the future of Medicaid. I understand that Administrator Fink responded to questions concerning SB1274 and the exclusion of Medicaid members from the protections of Hawaii's external review statute that, to the best of his knowledge, there had been only one case by a Medicaid member decided in the external review, and it was decided against the patient.
As usual, intentional or not, Fink's statement is patently false and constitutes an abuse of his office in light of the fact that he is a public servant believed to be knowledgeable about the facts, whose comments are given extraordinary weight. I have no doubt that Fink provided similar false information to legislators in lobbying for SB1274 to the detriment of the people he is charged with protecting. In fact, although he has told officials he wants to know about cases involving problems with Evercare, he also declines to discuss or assist in cases and his people are actively engaged in holding services over the heads of members to persuade them to dismiss their cases.
The facts are these: There have been an unprecedented number of cases in the external review by Medicaid members, more than against any other provider, many decided, and many pending. The score is as follows:
Decisions:
Patients 3, HMSA QUEST 0. 1 case pending, heard this month.
Patients 1, Alohacare 0 - settled when filed.
Patients 1, Kaiser QUEST 0 - resolved without a hearing
Patients 2, Ohana 0 - one decided, one settled, none presently pending but several resolved before request for review filed.
Patients 1, Evercare 2 - both on appeal (1 split decision with hearing officer voting against Evercare, one failure to heed expert opinion); two cases resolved without a hearing; two will be dismissed, one because DHS immediately reversed Evercare's ridiculous decision, one because patient pre-deceased hearing; several cases filed, will be heard before June 30.
These are verifiable facts. I can provide details about each and every case, and the Medicaid members involved will be only too happy to confirm those facts.
Rafael del Castillo
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