LEJ seeks to ensure access to critical medical services for residents under the compact of free association
The Department of Human Services (DHS) announced its intent to stop providing critical medical services to citizens present in Hawaii under the Compact of Free Association. The Compact allows citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau to enter the United States freely and receive certain benefits. The Compact is, in some ways, reparation for radiation pollution caused in their home countries during atomic bomb testing during the cold war.Sound v. Koller and Korab v. Koller seek to prevent termination of critical medical services, notably kidney dialysis and chemotherapy, that the Department of Human Services announced its intent to cut for residents present in Hawaii under the Compact of Free Association.
(Photo from Star-Bulletin, Craig T. Kojima)
For years, Hawaii DHS has provided access to critical medical services to these groups. It is estimated, for example, that 250 Compact residents regularly receive essential kidney dialysis, without which they would die within 7-10 days.
Despite the critical nature of these services, DHS sent out letters notifying these residents that the services would be terminated. We believe these letters failed to comport with even basic standards of due process: while many compact residents speak limited or no English, the notices were printed only in English and with a phone number that leads to a voicemail system that is only in English. The letter does not adequately explain the actions taken by DHS or the options available to Compact residents. This callous, inadequate notice has already detrimentally affected Compact residents.
Further, we believe this decision to selectively single out certain minority groups for disparate access to critical medical services offends basic egalitarian notions of the United States and Hawaii Constitutions. We believe these decisions were short-sighted and will, in the long run, cost the State additional monies as Compact residents will delay needed medical care and end up in emergency rooms, which are more expensive and less able to serve their critical needs.
LEJ has filed class actions against the directors of the Department of Human Services and Med-QUEST, seeking immediate injunctive relief and restoration of these critical services.