Health Care

... But the Maui News isn't so sure it still won't be sabotaged....

House Appoints Conferees, Conference Committee to meet Tues 5PM....

"Whenever there is a new product, whether it be powdered alcohol or e-cigarettes, we want to jump on it, and ban it."

I lived as a woman for eight years....

...Exchanges run by the federal government both retained a higher percentage of 2014 enrollees and enrolled a higher percentage of new enrollees in 2015 than states that run their own exchanges....

"While tobacco use among Hawaii’s public middle and high school students has declined over the past decade, e-cigarette use has been increasing rapidly."

Hawaii's Ohana Policy Group is developing strategies and tactics to combat in-school lifestyle indoctrination....

Fifteen states are betting they can convince more doctors to accept the growing number of patients covered by Medicaid with a simple incentive: more money....

The prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults in Hawaii decreased by more than 20% from 2011 to 2013....However, use of e-cigarettes continues to grow at an alarming rate....

HB1075 concerns the creation of a public-private partnership for the Maui Hospital System....

...Hawaii State Capitol Auditorium on Thursday, April 16th @ 7 PM....

...in Hawaii, the cost to receive long term care services at home with a home health aide has increased over the past five years....

"UNITE HERE Local 5 is attending municipal public meetings and speaking directly with elected policymakers."

...an important step toward solving health cost issues as well as the state's physician shortage....

“State of American Well-Being: 2014 Community Well-Being Rankings” examines the comparative well-being of the largest 100 communities in the United States....

...details for the House Finance Committee to work out in a hearing now set for Wednesday April 8 at 2pm in room 308....

...to determine how much they bleed during the procedure....

...The report uses 12 key metrics – ranging from average annual wages and salary disparities to patient population size and state medical board punitiveness to rank each of the 50 states....

The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program helps communities identify and implement solutions that make it easier for people to be healthy....

...If recent cuts are finalized, beneficiaries would face cumulative premium increases, benefit reductions of more than $120 per month....

"... you may currently enjoy the privilege of occupying a seat, you do not own it - it does not belong to you.  Show some respect to the people who put you there ...."

Only eight states saw increases under 15 percent: New York, Virginia, Mississippi, North Dakota, Hawaii, Maine, Connecticut and West Virginia....

...HHC will not be self-sufficient for at least 8 years ["if ever" adds Senator Slom]....

...The loss of an arm, for example, is worth up to $48,840 in Alabama, $193,950 in Ohio and $439,858 in Illinois....

...If approved, non-profits directed by Grace, the Paradise Lua porta-potty magnate who beat the rap for the 1999 Aloha Stadium porta-potty fire bombings, would be eligible for millions of dollars to fund proposals such as the "Paradise Ohana Heart and Vascular Center, Inc."....

...the proposed laws could actually increase obesity by increasing poverty....

Also in the H&R Block report is the news that the individual mandate penalty is averaging $172. This is likely to rise in future years....

"We want to encourage parents to always be the ones that are responsible for what their kids are learning in the public school system," Hawaii Family Forum's Eva Andrade said....

...Healthcare.gov failed customers on the last hours of open enrollment this past weekend and now anyone who had problems signing up is getting an extension....

...HB631 will be granted a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, February 18th....

...to make experimental drugs available to terminally ill patients who meet certain qualifications....

...Hawaii has 49 different CON laws, 3rd highest in USA....

Yet another black eye for the industry which funds anti-GMO activism....

If the Legislature fails to grant MMMC permission to negotiate a partnership agreement with HPH and MMMC goes bankrupt, this interview will be the smoking gun....

“The bottom line of this bill is to start saving lives."

The defendant is the former executive director of the Hawaii Centers for Independent Living....

...dishonesty and financial carelessness by the managers of the Hawaii Health Connector have been so rampant as to be criminal in nature....

...We noted numerous questionable travel and entertainment costs as well as unsupported severance pay. These questionable costs may be disallowed by the funding agency....

...if the new contract extends longer than three years, that will be a surprise to many....

...more than 20 states have introduced so-called "Right to Try" bills in the hopes of allowing terminally ill patients to access experimental—and potentially life-saving—treatments more easily....

...Repeal certificate of need (CON) laws....

The CARE Act will help families by involving family caregivers more intentionally in the hospital discharge process....

...the proportion of children who’d missed one or more shots increased from an average of 8 percent at the beginning of the study period to 12.4 percent at the end....

The cost of tobacco for every smoker is $1,029,646 over a lifetime....

...newly eligible adults will have access to addiction treatments this year, many for the first time....

...a new report from the Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs Department shows the Connector won’t be fiscally sustainable until 2022....

Top concerns include the state economy, education, the Hawaii Health Connector, oversight of the Public Utilities Commission in light of the Hawaiian Electric Industries/NextEra merger, and positively affecting the cost of living for Hawaii residents....