While Nebraska has been the target of much criticism and the central focus of the special deals that tainted the process of securing Senate passage of a health care bill, there are other states that received equally insidious protections.
A Drugwonks reader recently emailed me in an uproar about President Obama’s home state of Hawaii being on the receiving end of a special deal as well in the Senate bill.
Not giving the claim much credence initially, I looked into it and, lo and behold, she was right.
The Hawaii Reporter explains the specific exemption in the bill:
“H.R. 3590 also includes a provision requested by Senator Akaka which preserves Hawaii’s system of employer-mandated health care. A large percentage of Hawaii residents have health insurance because of the state’s employer-mandated health care system which depends on a long-standing exemption from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a provision that is intended to preserve Hawaii’s unique ERISA exemption and the employer-mandated insurance that the exemption enables.”
Hawaii has a law that mandates employers provide robust health plans to employees who work at least 20 hours a week. It is a law that has been on the books since 1974.
The Senate health bill has no such employer mandate.
This comment from Honolulu arbitrator and labor lawyer Michael Nauyokas stands out:
“We don’t need the feds to go in and mess up our system.”
One might argue the state of Massachusetts sent Congress that exact same message last week on behalf of the other 49 states.
