First Quarter Edition 2000 Home   Newsletters

Spring 2001

Summer 2001

State League Convention
Flawed Process (Jean Aoki)
Money and Politics (Nikki Love)
President's Message (Maile Bay)
Judiciary Study Committee Receives Grant (Jean Aoki)
Campaign Finance Reform Legislation (Laure Dillon)
Education Committee Report (Mary Anne Raywid)
Health Care Laws and Domestic Violence
Local League News - Honolulu
Local League News - Kauai
Local League News - Hawaii
Coalition Against Legalized Gambling (Grace Furukawa)
Programs Recommended by the Board of Directors
Studies Planned by Local Leagues for 2001-2002
Report of the Nominating Committee

Health Care Laws and Domestic Violence

Hawaii received a "D" grade in the recent Family Violence Prevention Fund's State-By-State Report Card on Health Care Laws and Domestic Violence. Health care providers are often in the best position to help victims of abuse and their children, if they are trained to screen for domestic violence, to recognize signs of abuse, and to intervene effectively.

Each state's grades were based on whether it has enacted effective laws to improve the health care response in five critical areas: Training - Hawaii 0, Screening - Hawaii 0, Protocols - Hawaii 0, Reporting - Hawaii 0, Insurance - Hawaii 1.

Hawaii does require health care providers to report knife wounds, gun-related wounds and any injury that would seriously maim, produce death, or has caused unconsciousness when such injury was caused by violence or sustained in an unusual or suspicious manner. This law was designed to assist law enforcement in solving crimes, and is not specific to domestic violence or elder or child abuse.

Hawaii is one of nineteen states that have enacted adequate domestic violence insurance discrimination protections. Hawaii law prohibits life, disability and health insurers from refusing to issue or renew coverage, canceling an existing policy, denying coverage, or increasing the premium on an insurance policy to anyone who has been the victim of domestic violence.

First Quarter Edition 2000 Home   Newsletters Summer 2001