Sunday, December 8, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Sunday, February 20, 2022
We Have a Health Care Crisis – And Our Taxes Aren’t Helping
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 2042 Views :: Health Care, Taxes

We Have a Health Care Crisis – And Our Taxes Aren’t Helping

by Tom Yamachika, President, Tax Foundation Hawaii

We have a health care crisis on our hands.

According to a study by the University of Hawaii School of Medicine, there is a shortage of physicians in Hawaii. The school has forecasted that the gap between supply and demand is now close to 1,000 doctors, and it has been getting worse over the years.

This shows a problem, although highlighted by the recent pandemic, that has been years in the making. According to reporting by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Hawaii’s healthcare crisis includes a growing doctor shortage, lack of specialty care in rural areas, high emergency room wait times and the fact that we have among the fewest hospital beds per capita in the nation. Its causes include a low Medicare reimbursement rate, General Excise Tax (GET) applying to medical practices, and our sky-high cost of living.

Medicare, for example, is supposed to pay for health care for seniors that need it. Medicare will only reimburse medical work at “reasonable charges” and will not reimburse the doctors for the GET they have to pay. Doctors usually wind up absorbing the tax rather than attempting to surcharge their patients for it, meaning they have to account for yet another expense amidst Hawaii’s high cost of everything.

In our current legislative session, there is a bill (HB 1407 / SB 2020) to disallow the wholesale GET rate of 0.5% on a sale unless there is a resale at the retail 4% rate that follows it. The Department of Taxation testified strongly in favor of it, while different hospitals and health care organizations testified it would be a disaster for them. The House committee hearing it advanced the bill forward, while the Senate Ways and Means Committee deferred it. The fate of the bill is uncertain at this point.

There may be people out there thinking that, well, doctors are rich fat cats, so why shouldn’t we tax them up the wazoo? The short answer to that question is that they are going to jump on a plane and get the heck out of here – which is backed up by the statistics discussed earlier in this article. Then, of course, they won’t be around when you need them.

And we need them.

Wouldn’t you say so, legislators?

 

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii