Hawaii recently implemented a first-in-the-nation community-based palliative care benefit through a state plan amendment, requiring place-based palliative care to be covered as a Medicaid benefit for Hawaiians with serious medical illnesses. We had the opportunity to catch up with the founder and CEO of Votive Health, an organization that has been heavily involved in this … Read more
Hui Pohala is an advocacy organization in Hawaii that aims to increase access to quality palliative care for Hawaiians with serious medical illnesses. The group’s vice president, Naomi Morita, spoke with us at the 2023 Hawaii State of Reform conference in January about her main priorities for Hawaii healthcare policy. She says supporting the state’s … Read more
Tellie Matagi led the Pacific Islander Task Force within the Hawaii State Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, which conducted contact tracing among the state’s Pacific Islander population. Like many stakeholders, Matagi is focused on health equity—but for her, equitable health outcomes can’t be reached until the healthcare workforce is representative of the ethnic … Read more
Keawe’aimoku Kaholokula, chair of Native Hawaiian Health at the University of Hawaii Manoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, told us that a key goal of his is increasing the ethnic diversity of Hawaii’s medical workforce. During our 2023 Hawaii State of Reform conference in January, Kaholokula told us that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders … Read more
We want to thank everyone who attended for our 2023 Hawaii State of Reform Health Policy Conference last month! It was so great to be back in-person in Hawaii, and we already can’t wait for next year’s event! To see a recap of the day, you can watch this “What You Missed” video that our Digital Media … Read more
We hosted our 2023 Hawaii State of Reform Health Policy Conference recently, bringing together thought leaders, legislators, and policy experts into multi-silo conversations about the future of healthcare in Hawaii. Too often, those with good ideas for reforming healthcare don’t have a solid understanding of how the legislative process works. Those who understand … Read more
With the 2023 Hawaii State of Reform Health Policy Conference coming up next week, we wanted to share the list of organizations that will be attending our event. It’s an impressive list and one that we’re honored to host and convene on January 11th! We are looking forward to seeing many of our best friends … Read more
The Detailed Agenda for our 2023 Hawaii State of Reform Health Policy Conference is now available! Through our extensive stakeholder engagement process, we have put together many exciting panels that will cover the most important topics in Hawaii health policy. Join us as we hear from experts across the landscape of Hawaii healthcare, … Read more
The Topical Agenda for our 2023 Hawaii State of Reform Health Policy Conference is now live! State of Reform gathers healthcare and health policy executives—each working to improve the healthcare system in their own way—into a united conversation in a single space. At this conference, we’ll explore politics and policy in healthcare, discuss … Read more