WASHINGTON –Senator Daniel K. Inouye issued the following statement regarding his position on health-care.  

“A civilized, democratic society like ours should help maintain the health and welfare of all our citizens.  No one should be denied medical care or lose coverage because they can’t afford to pay to see a medical professional.  Our system as it stands today is broken.  Insurance premiums are rising out of control, thousands are losing coverage every day and millions of Americans are unable to attain basic health-care for themselves and their families.  Meanwhile health insurance providers are reporting record profits while their executives receive multimillion dollar bonuses.  It is outrageous and we in the Congress are working to remedy the situation by passing bipartisan legislation that overhauls the current system in a manner that the public can comprehend.  Any measure that emerges should increase the competition among insurance companies and ensure access to all necessary services.”

“Hawaii has long been ahead of the rest of the nation in terms of formulating and implementing policy mandating employer provided health-care.  We’ve requested the exemption to ensure that whatever bill emerges from the debate, Hawaii’s employer mandated health-care law would not be rolled back.  Hawaii has one of the highest rates of insurance in the country and hopefully the national law that emerges will be beneficial to those uninsured who require access to medical care.  Hawaii is also one of the healthiest states in the country, partly because of access.”