Lack of health coverage is an issue that has been pushed to the forefront by many caring and concerned community leaders.

In 2000, the HMSA Foundation made a three-year commitment to study and address the growing number of Hawaii’s people without health coverage, and The Hawai‘i Uninsured Project was born.

Recognizing the importance of an open and inclusive process, a nine-month community-wide planning initiative led to a statewide “Leadership Assembly” in November 2000. Conference findings provided a starting point to initiate research and begin to draw a picture of Hawaii’s uninsured.

A year of analysis followed, along with gathering community suggestions on addressing the complex problems of the uninsured. In November 2001, the Policy Summit – Ways to Insure the Uninsured – helped to identify strategies with the greatest potential.

Three areas of focus emerged:

• employment-based insurance
• government-based insurance
• the safety net

Six months of intensive analysis led to further refinement of coverage options. These insights were recorded and presented to a cross-section of experts in a Coverage for All Design Forum held on May 30, 2002. This group collectively generated what is believed to be the best set of target areas for expansion.

In 2002,federal and national grants enabled The Hawai`i Uninsured Project to begin operating in complete independence from HMSA Foundation.