The children of Aloha Airlines workers who lost their jobs and healthcare benefits when the airline closed its passenger service would be eligible for health insurance through the end of the year under a proposal announced yesterday by state lawmakers.

The children would be covered with a basic health plan through a new pilot program, known as Keiki Care, between the state Department of Human Services and the Hawai'i Medical Service Association to provide healthcare to uninsured children.

The three-year pilot program, passed last session by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Linda Lingle, is aimed at so-called gap children. These children don't have health insurance either because their parents earn too much money to qualify for Quest — the state's health insurance program for the poor — or can't afford or choose not to pay for private insurance.

The Keiki Care program, according to HMSA, provides medical, drug and dental coverage for children with no charge for well-child visits and immunizations. There is a $7 copayment for office visits to doctors and a $5 copayment for generic drugs.

The children of Aloha workers would be allowed into the program through the end of the year or until their parents find new jobs that provide healthcare benefits. Lawmakers estimate that as many as 800 children of Aloha workers will be eligible. The proposal could cost the state about $23,000 a month.

"As an expectant mother, my heart really goes out to the Aloha Airlines employees that have lost their jobs and health insurance in the largest mass layoff in the history of our state, due to no fault of their own," said state Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, D-45th (Wai'anae, Makaha, Makua), the chairwoman of the House Human Services and Housing Committee.

State Sen. Rosalyn Baker, D-5th (W. Maui, S. Maui), the chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said lawmakers would consider expanding the proposal to include the children of workers who lost their jobs when ATA Airlines and Molokai Ranch closed.

Baker said, however, that many of the workers at Molokai Ranch would probably meet income requirements that qualify their children for Quest, which provides better healthcare coverage than the basic plan offered in the pilot program by the state and HMSA.

"Healthcare is one of the fundamental services that government can make sure people have access to," Baker said. "Healthy children are going to be better learners, and it's one less concern that these parents, who have so much to deal with right now, have to worry about."

Stu Glauberman, a spokesman for Aloha Airlines, said Aloha workers who were terminated were offered COBRA coverage through either HMSA or Kaiser Permanente. COBRA, a federal law, provides for continuing healthcare coverage for workers who lose their jobs but is typically more expensive because it does not include the employer-subsidy on premiums.

Glauberman said the airline appreciates any assistance lawmakers might offer to "the Aloha 'ohana."

Lawmakers added the proposal to an unrelated bill on healthcare workforce mapping that carried over from last session.