Suit seeks restored health benefits for Pacific migrants

Dialysis patient Manuel Sound needs 11 prescriptions for medication. Each month, he’s able to fill four.

He’s grateful that he’s allowed dialysis care under the recent Basic Health Hawaiʻi plan, a state-funded plan that has been reduced after a compromise with the community it is targeted for: Compact of Free Association migrants. But it still limits his care.

“I need medication for high blood pressure. I need medication for cholesterol. I need medication for diabetes,” said the 70-year-old Kalihi resident, who moved to Hawaiʻi from Chuuk eight years ago. “I have to talk to my doctor about cutting down on the medication, because sooner or later I won’t be able to afford it anymore.”