We live in a community with traditions that have set the stage in a very natural way for responsible consumer protection. That's why no one should have been surprised when HMSA was the second health plan in the country to adopt President Clinton's Consumer Bill of Rights, or when we strongly supported the Hawai'i Patient Bill of Rights in the state legislature. And HMSA is the only health plan in Hawai'i that provides for member voting for the board of directors, changes to our constitution and bylaws, and other important matters. In an age of health care profiteering, we remain steadfastly nonprofit, driven by our clear mission to assure quality, affordable health care. Yet I am often confronted with misinformation in the papers and on TV regarding health care.
Problems are often exaggerated, triggering some pretty unfounded fears.
This is not to discount mistakes that occur in rare instances. Public discourse on health care seems to have gone over the edge. Easy rhetoric along with the HMO story du jour often takes the place of intelligent debate. This means that the complicated realities of delivering care are ignored while public sentiment is being inflamed. The challenges we must work on are not the ones we see in the headlines.