Not Just Hawaii: Insurance Companies Reject Obamacare Exchanges--Reid Predicts Single-Payer Coming
Kauai Adolescent Drug Treatment Study Published, Site Selection Next
Honolulu City Lights display deadline August 30
Obama administration backs prayer at local government meetings
9.2% Preschoolers Obese: Hawaii Lowest in Nation
Trouble Paying Car Note? Call OHA, They'll Give You Cash
Abercrombie's specialty is bombast, Ige's specialty is budgeting
KOS: Abercrombie's specialty is bombast, Ige's specialty is budgeting....
Neil's honeymoon with the press did not last long, and he has clashed repeatedly with the legislature and his own cabinet. A recent Civil Beat/ TPM Polltracker poll found that his approval rating was underwater, with 48% of state residents disapproving of his performance and only 45% approving. While Abercrombie has lots of cash, flash, and bluster, it looks like Ige will try to present himself as the steadier, humbler, more inclusive alternative. He can highlight his competency and long career of public service and be a fresh start for the state....
Rally: Sat Aug 17 11am Pearl City Highlands Elem School
read ... Senator David Ige kicks off primary campaign against Governor Neil Abercrombie
Sequestration Cost Hawaii $684M
SA: Sequestration could cost Hawaii $684 million this year, according to Eugene Tian, the state's economist — $462 million from the direct loss in federal spending and the rest from the ripple effect through the economy. The reduction could take 0.9 percent away from the state's projected $75.9 billion gross domestic product.
The state's GDP is expected to grow by 2.4 percent this year, Tian estimates, as the construction and service sectors of the economy follow the tourism sector into expansion. The GDP grew by 1.6 percent last year.
Christopher Grandy, a University of Hawaii-Manoa economist who serves on the state Council on Revenues, said sequestration could translate into a $51 million loss in general fund tax revenue this year.
FYI: Entire Hawaii Congressional Delegation Voted for Sequestration
read ... Thanks, Obama
State paying feds $101 a day per inmate to use federal facility
HNN: The head of the state corrections system admitted overcrowded conditions at the state's largest prisons plays a role in the injuries and even deaths of inmates and staff.
At Oahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi, it's not usual for three people to share a 70-foot cell that was originally designed to hold one inmate. That means one of the three sleeps on the floor.
"It's terribly overcrowded. The attorneys won't like me saying this," said State Public Safety Ted Sakai.
OCCC's official operating capacity is 954 but as of June 30, the inmate population there was 1,208 inmates.
At the end of June, the state had 234 inmates at the federal facility. The state spent $11.4 million in the last year housing prisoners there.
The state pays the federal government $101 a day per prisoner at the FDC. That's less than half what it costs the state per prisoner at OCCC, $211.
"Our cost per day is high mainly because we require so many more staff to operate than FDC," said state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz. "Their efficiency with a more modern facility allows them to operate with less staff. That's means less overhead and admin costs for them too."
In addition, federal detention center will not handle mentally-ill or really violent inmates, which require more staff.
It's even cheaper, just $75 a day per inmate, at a private prison in Arizona which is home to about 1,400 Hawaii inmates. And the cost of the Arizona inmates includes air transportation.
read ... State paying feds $101 a day per inmate to use federal facility
OHA Gives Away $8M to Profitable Nonprofits
SA: The board of trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has awarded $8 million in grants to 32 community-based organizations that tie their missions to helping improve conditions for Native Hawaiians. More than 6,200 Native Hawaiians are expected to directly benefit from the grant money that addresses issues ranging from improving middle- and high-school test scores to increasing housing stability.
The grant money received by 32 nonprofit organizations will also fund programs that fit into other OHA priorities, such as preserving culture and raising family income to protecting land and supporting prenatal care. The grants have been made available to fund OHA priorities over a two-year period that started in July. The 32 nonprofit groups were selected from 146 applications for OHA grant money.
Among the first-time applicants was an organization called Effective Planning Innovative Communications Inc., known also as EPIC Ohana. It was awarded a $27,900 grant to provide rental-housing assistance statewide to about 42 Native Hawaiian foster youth between ages 14 and 25.
read ... Cash Giveaway
Physicians Must be Warriors for Private Practice
IZ: Traditionally, Americans have been deeply bonded to their physicians and could rely on them to be singularly dedicated to each patient for the long term. Doctors were an integral part of the social fabric of the community. They were also independent, spirited and free-thinking, not beholden to administrators. They did not punch out at the end of their shift like a factory worker.
The cost pressures and mounting demands of health care reform have more and more Hawaii physicians in private practice desperate for an exit strategy. For many that means either finding a job, leaving the state or both. Today, even among medical students, few are motivated or even believe it is possible to start an independent practice.
Now is a defining moment for what it means to be a physician in modern society. There are still those who believe it does not simply mean a well-paid job with good benefits and a comfortable lifestyle. For some there is a call to arms not of muskets and powder, but of hearts and minds to preserve the independent practice of medicine.
When it comes to medical care, Americans still value their bond with the person they call "my doctor." To remain independent, providers must face unprecedented challenges and cultivate new skills. Today marks the birth of the physician-warrior. There is no middle ground.
read ... Private practice is daunting for modern-day physicians
Omidyar's Hanalei McMansion Scheme Makes WSJ
WSJ: ...hundreds of Kauai Island residents are protesting plans that call for building expensive homes along a ridge that overlooks the beach, claiming the housing development would mar the appearance of surrounding Hanalei Bay.
The battle between local interests and Ohana Real Estate Investors LLC, which wants to sell 33 lots of 15,000 to 18,000 square feet each, has taken on an extra dimension: Ohana, being part of an investment arm of the family of eBay Inc. founder Pierre Omidyar, has given opponents a convenient and high-profile target in Mr. Omidyar, who has remained somewhat removed from the project.
read ... WSJ
Hawaii schools struggle to keep new teachers
AP: Jonathan Sager was an idealistic 22-year-old recent college graduate when he arrived in Hawaii in 2006, yearning to make a difference in the lives of children in hardscrabble neighborhoods like those on the Waianae Coast.
About an hour's drive from bustling Honolulu, the stretch of unspoiled beaches and looming mountains is home to a high concentration of Native Hawaiians and some of the state's lowest-performing schools. So Sager learned their culture, bought a condo and planned to stay.
After seven years, Sager, now 29, quit, packing up this summer for Texas and becoming the latest teacher Hawaii could not keep as it tries to fill a seemingly perpetual teacher shortage. He said he was frustrated by constant educational experimentation.
read ... Hawaii schools struggle to keep new teachers
UH Manoa forced to tighten belts amidst funding cuts
KHON: UH Manoa is dealing with cuts of $7 million from the state legislature, $2.5 million from the governor, and will have to come up with $7 million to pay faculty raises.
Chancellor Tom Apple says it will take some serious belt-tightening.
“We’re gonna try as hard as we can to make sure the students don’t feel it. We’re gonna be doing the efficiencies, we leave a couple of the managerial positions open and things like that and just try to do more with less,” Chancellor Apple said....
Chancellor Apple says there are some extra funds that will help lessen the blow.
“We’re using a lot of our tuition special funds account, our carryover accounts, to cover these kinds of things. Make sure that we don’t impact student success and student access,” Chancellor Apple said.
Chancellor Apple says he will ask the state lawmakers to fund the faculty pay raises at next year’s legislative session.
read ... But they've got plenty for the guy in the next story
Senator to monitor UH's Price situation
SA: Taniguchi said, "as more details (about Price's removal) have come out, it is less likely that I will be doing a full-fledged investigation."
Under terms of his one-year contract, Price will be paid through Oct. 30 and then receive a lump sum payment for the remainder of his $125,000 salary through the contract's Feb. 18, 2014 expiration, UH officials have said. The position will not be filled this season, UH said.
Taniguchi said, "while I understand the thinking behind the decision (to remove Price) and its practicality, I do not believe that all of my Senate colleagues would be as understanding."
Taniguchi said, "Although I would like to follow Coach (Norm) Chow and ‘move on,' the continuing missteps by the university will force me to continue to monitor what happens with this issue and with other miscues by the university."
read ... Senator to monitor UH's Price situation
The Medicaid Buy-In Task Force NOTICE OF MEETING
DATE: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 TIME: 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
PLACE: Conference Room 224 State Capitol 415 South Beretania Street
The Medicaid Buy-In Task Force will reconvene to continue discussions on the Medicaid Buy-In proposal. No public testimony will be accepted.
read ... Announcement
Electric vehicle charging station law lacks enforcement
HNN: A law designed to provide incentives and ease the minds of electric vehicle owners isn't meeting its expectations because there's no enforcement to ensure it works. Act 89 was signed into law last April and went into effect immediately. It requires all parking lots with more than a hundred spaces to provide an electric vehicle charging station and a designated stall.
When Act 89 was passed in 2012, there were only 600 electric vehicles on the road, now there's close to 2,000.
"We really need to look statewide and give a fairly high degree of certainty that no matter where you drive you're going to be able to charge up and that you're really going to be able to use these cars comfortably in Hawai'i," said Robert Harris, Director of the Sierra Club of Hawai'i.
read ... Free Fuel for the Elite
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