Hawaii's infant mortality rate was 8.1 per 1,000 live births in 2000. In 1999, a total of 4,404 abortions were performed, at a rate of 18 per 1,000 women. Death rates from heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, accidents, and suicide were all below their respective national rates in 2000. The HIV-related death rate in Hawaii was also less than the overall US rate (2.3 vs. 5.3 per 100,000) in 2000. Through 2001, 2,569 AIDS cases had been reported Smoking prevalence was 19.7% among Hawaiians age 18 and older in 2000.
In 2001, Hawaii had 23 community hospitals, which together provided 3,235 beds and had a total of 108,252 admissions. There were 3,430 full-time registered nurses and 487 full-time licensed practical nurses in 2001 and 300 physicians per 100,000 population in 2000. The average expense for hospital care provided in 2001 totaled $1,296.30 per inpatient day.
Hawaii comes the closest of any state to providing universal health care coverage as the result of a 1974 law that requires employers to provide health insurance for full-time workers and a state insurance plan for low-income, part-time workers and Medicaid recipients. Federal government grants to cover the Medicare and Medicaid services in 2001 totaled $347 million; 168,296 enrollees received Medicare benefits that year. Only 9.6% of Hawaiian adults were uninsured in 2002.