Hawaiʻi has been gifted a $12 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to tackle health care reform over the next decade.
With the grant, there are also opportunities for providers to access up to $60 million a year that can go directly to hospitals and providers, as long as they are interested in participating in the goals of the AHEAD, or All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development, model.
Hawaiʻi is one of only six states chosen to participate in this program, making it a rare opportunity. State Health Planning and Development Agency Administrator Jack Lewin was one of the lead officials who applied for the grant on behalf of Hawaiʻi.
"If this program really works, in all the programs — commercial, Medicaid, Medicare — there are opportunities for greater efficiency and effectiveness," he told HPR. "And if we can achieve that and save some money, then we can lift up those reimbursements for procedures."
Learn more about the grant by listening to this conversation between Lewin and HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Oct. 2, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
