Home / About / 2020 Annual Report
Print Share

2020 Annual Report

Aloha,

2020 was a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic caught our state, our nation, and the world by surprise, pushing us to innovate quickly and creatively to meet the needs of our members, community, and state. We were able to work with our government and provider partners to propose and implement innovative solutions during a critical time.

To take care of Hawaii during the pandemic, HMSA rose to the challenge. We offered telemedicine and digital health care to patients with no member cost share. We approved early refills on prescriptions and paid for COVID-19 testing, treatment, and services without copayments. We also collaborated with hospitals and urgent care centers to set up the infrastructure needed to handle this crisis. In 2020, HMSA’s COVID-related support totaled more than $175 million, and none of those costs were passed on to members or employers.

Also in 2020, our membership grew to more than 741,000, the largest in the history of our company. And it happened during a time when Hawaii was leading the nation with our high unemployment rate. This show of trust in HMSA makes us even more determined to fulfill our mission to protect, preserve, and improve the lives of our members and the health of Hawaii during the good times, the tough times, for lifetimes.

Mahalo,

Signature of Mark Mugiishi

Mark Mugiishi, M.D., F.A.C.S.
President and Chief Executive Officer

Signature of Robert S. Harrison

Robert S. Harrison
Chair of the Board

Photo of Mark Mugiishi and Robert Harrison
Here with you

Here with You

While affordability and access have always been HMSA’s main goal, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted our focus to ensuring the immediate health and safety of our members. Doing so required a concerted and collaborative effort with providers, employers, government, and community leaders to give our members access to providers, services, and medications. Here are some examples of how we worked in partnership with others in the community:

Here with you
provider partnership

Partnering with Providers

  • Continued to pay primary care providers, including those who had to shut down their offices, through our payment transformation program.
  • Waived cost sharing for telehealth visits to ensure safe access to care for our providers and members.
  • Extended benefits to include non-HIPAA-compliant telehealth and virtual care, in compliance with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
  • Partnered with The Queen’s Health Systems to bring much-needed care access to West Oahu by opening EmPower Health, a new advanced primary care clinic.

Increased the number of:

129,225
HOC visits

HMSA’s Online Care® (HOC) visits from 22,000 in 2019 to 129,225 in 2020.

1,072,903
Covered telehealth claims

Covered telehealth claims from 25,192 in 2019 to 1,072,903 in 2020.

1,190
Available HOC telehealth providers

Available HOC telehealth providers from 561 in 2019 to 1,190 in 2020.

Amwell provides hosting and software services for HMSA’s Online Care platform. The company was recently ranked the highest in telehealth satisfaction by J.D. Powers.

partnership-employers

Partnering with Employers

  • Offered a one-time premium credit to give local businesses financial relief.
  • Expanded support for employer groups by delaying 2020 rate increases.
  • Provided deferred payment plans to businesses in need of additional support.
  • Rolled out flat or nearly flat 2021 rate adjustments to promote affordability and stability.
partnership-employers
partnership-government

Partnering with Government

Working with the state’s COVID-19 Public Health Recovery Task Force, HMSA helped to lead efforts to:

  • Create and drive policy for the pandemic response, resulting in Hawaii consistently being among the states with the lowest infection rates.
  • Develop a road map for reopening Hawaii's economy.
partnership-community

Partnering with Communities

HMSA continues to contribute and support programs, events, and organizations throughout Hawaii that benefit our communities. In 2020, our partnership with the Hawaii Homeless Healthcare Hui (H4) provided a safe place for homeless patients to stay and receive care in Iwilei, we helped to staff a free clinic in Kalihi for Hawaii residents who lost insurance due to the pandemic, and we made telehealth consultations possible for physicians at the Institute for Human Services Sumner Street Clinic. To date, HMSA has given a total of $6 million to support H4. Together, we’re now looking forward to the 2021 opening of a first-of-its-kind health care and hygiene center in Iwilei.

Here are some of the other ways HMSA has supported our communities in 2020.

Community health initiatives, including:

  • Family Medicine Practice - University Health Partners.
  • John A. Burns School of Medicine Learning Communities program.
  • Pu‘ulu Lapa‘au, the Hawai’i Program for Healthcare Professionals.
  • University of Hawai’i Economic Research Organization to help fund research on the impact to Hawaii’s economy during and after the pandemic.
  • University of Hawai’i School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene interprofessional training for Hawaii Keiki nurses in public schools.
  • Waikiki Health’s Waiwai Ola Emergency Department super-utilizer program.

Community events and in-kind donations, including:

COVID-19 donations

  • Federally Qualified Health Center assistance
  • Funding to provide grab and go meals at schools

Fairs

  • 10,000 Steps Health & Wellness Fair
  • Akamai Living Fair
  • Hawaii State Farm Fair
  • Lana’i Kina‘ole Health Fair
  • YMCA wellness fair

Fundraisers

  • American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure
  • American Heart Association Heart Ball
  • Chipping Away at Domestic Violence
  • Goodwill Goes Glam
  • Habilitat’s 20th annual Luau, Auction and Benefit Concert
  • Kapiolani Medical Center Radiothon

Walks and runs

  • Hilo Heart Walk
  • Kahoomiki Rainbow Run
  • March for Babies March for Dimes
  • Moloka’i Cancer Fund Walk for ‘Ohana
  • Oahu Heart Walk

Monetary donations to various causes, including:

  • Foodbanks statewide
  • Hawaii Community Foundation’s Workforce Development initiative
  • Hawaii Employees Lifeline Program flu shot clinic
  • Hawaii Restaurant Card Program
partnership-community

The grand total of giving was $2.4 million.

$2.4 million
grand total of giving

HMSA Employees in the Community

Circle of Caring is a program designed for HMSA employees to give back to their community through volunteerism. Even during the pandemic, volunteers continued to provide care for our members and the community while maintaining social distancing to help keep everyone safe.

Sixty-four volunteers worked 391 hours at 19 different sites across the state to participate in 36 events ranging from educational support to food access. Some beneficiaries of volunteer hours in 2020 were:

  • Hawaii Department of Health
  • Hawaii Employers Lifeline Program
  • Hawaii Foodbank
  • Ho‘oulu Aina
  • KEY Project
  • Our Kupuna

64
volunteers

391
hours

19
sites across Hawaii

36
events

Operations & Finances

HMSA’s 2020 Financial Report reflects our company’s current financial standing, giving members, employers, and health care providers the assurance that HMSA remains financially stable and will be here for them when they need us.

2020 Financial report
2020 Financial Report [PDF]
road ahead

The Road Ahead

The COVID-19 vaccines provide a light at the end of the tunnel, and we’ll continue our efforts to support our system partners to offer community-based mass vaccination centers. We’ve pledged the resources of our call centers, operations teams, data, communication channels, and more to assist however we can to help get the vaccines in the arms of as many people as possible as quickly as we can.

We’ve had the privilege of serving our members for over eight decades, and the global pandemic reinforced the importance of access to quality, affordable health care. With affordability as our primary goal, we’ll continue to ensure that our members have access to the care they need, grow our partnerships and collaboration with our provider and health system partners, continue to support local businesses, and work with our government partners to help the state recover.

road ahead

Sections