Health Care

... Hawaii Legislators' cradle-to-grave plan for your life .... 

... In 2019, the rate for Hawaiʻi (1.17 per 100,000) was almost three times the national rate (0.42 per 100,000) ....

... A Hawaii resident diagnosed with breast cancer could not find a physician to treat her ....

... Legislators have introduced multiple bills in the 2023 legislative session that seek to remove the GET for medical services in Hawaii, either wholly or in part. They include ....

... In 2017, Hawaii became the sixth state to extend pharmacist prescriptive authority to contraception ....

... removing the tax would lower medical costs and help alleviate the state's doctor shortage ....

... Hawaii lawmakers introducing consumer privacy bills and biometric privacy bills ....

... a recent national study of 3,000 counties in America found the Big Island has the third-worst shortage of healthcare providers in primary care, Maui has the fifth-worst shortage of healthcare providers in America, and Kauai has the 13th worst shortage ....

... 6th highest in USA ....

... spend nearly three times as long on educational requirements and be faced with shelling out twice as much in associated fees ....

... The emergency rule is effective for 120 days (eff. 12/5/2022 – 4/4/2023) ....

... The healthiest states were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Hawaii ....

... Hawaii ranks last in nation for early lung cancer diagnosis ....

... The state’s need for healthcare professionals has grown 76 percent – from 2,200 job openings in 2019 to 3,873 openings today ....

... The state is short more than 1,000 doctors, which means some patients cannot get care, and the ones who do have to wait a long time. ...

... RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms ....

... Hawaii has the highest percentage of at-risk rural hospitals in USA ...

...  the Hawaii Department of Human Services spent seven years litigating against an honest doctor in Hilo.  They lost ....

... A proposed certification scheme for community health workers would burden the workers and raise prices for everyone, according to a new report by Hawaii Office of the State Auditor ....

... Doula defendants take the stand against a fellow birth worker they accused of enticing women into creating maternity and breastfeeding porn ....

“If we exempted medical care from the general excise tax it would save doctors and patients more than $200 million [a year]. And that would help keep doctors in our state, rather than having to flee the state to earn money elsewhere...."

... the petition, which can be viewed here, calls on lawmakers to exempt medical services from the state’s general excise tax ....

"... LGBTQ+ students should have equitable access to confidential healthcare ...."

... In just two days, 48 seconds of PA James Winkler talking about the lack of doctors on Kauai has logged almost 610,000 views ....

... they told me, ‘Send this person to Costco’ ....

... Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has launched a petition urging the Hawaii Legislature to exempt medical services from the state’s general excise tax ....

... The average monthly Social Security disability benefit as of August 2022 was only $1,231.80 ....

... the terms “reef friendly” and “reef safe” are not regulated ....

... there is still a significant chunk of the population that is hesitant to get the vaccine ....

... Union Reports No Progress in First Bargaining Session Since Beginning of Strike, No Talks Scheduled This Week, Picketing Continues Today, Sept. 7 on Maui ....

... how bad is it and what can we do about it ....

... The Navy’s “toxic secrets” contributed to severe health issues for military families in Hawaii who were forced to drink tainted water and denied appropriate medical care, according to the lawsuit ....

...Clinicians will strike for as long as it takes to make Kaiser address an understaffing crisis that leaves patients waiting months for therapy sessions....

... Mental health workers will join their counterparts in California already on strike over understaffing and long wait times for patients ....

... the state has a critical shortage of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, the fewest hospital beds per capita in the U.S., and the 10th longest emergency room wait lines ....

... the rules amend Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules Chapter 16-89, to allow for nurses to practice temporarily ....

... According to the Hawaii Physician Shortage Crisis Task Force, taxes are one of the reason for the shortage ....

... Hawaii's 14% increase is second only to Arizona which increased 21% ....

... Tulsi Gabbard Accuses Biden Administration of ‘Dangerously Promoting Child Abuse’ ....

... with the current licensing requirements in place the workers won’t be able to work here until they get through a bunch of bureaucratic red tape.  The state of emergency could be used to bypass the licensing requirements ....

... Launching any type of business involves risk, but health care providers face an extra hurdle in Hawaii ....

... Citing “shortcomings in its behavioral health services,” the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), which accredits all health insurers in the United States, has called for “corrective action” at Kaiser Permanente’s mental health clinics in Hawai’i ....

... A Map of Regressive Progressives:  School by school data shows anti-vaxxers concentrated in areas known for anti-GMO and anti-Superferry protests ....

... Hawaii and Massachusetts top the 2022 State Scorecard rankings, based on overall performance across 56 measures of health care access and quality, service use and cost, health disparities, and health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 ....

“...In many concentrated insurance markets such as Hawaiʻi, insurers have few incentives to negotiate lower prices. They can easily pass these costs onto premiums without losing market share....”

... The Cost of Dying: Average cost of funerals, cremations, and medical care ....

... the high cost of living makes Hawaii nurses the lowest-salaried nurses in the nation ....

... Eighty-seven percent of over 2,000 survey participants reported at least one new or worsening health symptom following exposure to JP-5 jet fuel in the Navy water system. Thirty-seven percent sought medical care and 17 people reported being hospitalized overnight ....

... Clinicians schedule statewide strike starting May 18 to force changes at HMO that serves 260,000 Hawaii residents ....

... New Hospital Safety Grades from The Leapfrog Group Highlight Pandemic-Era Declines in Patient Experience ....