Health Care

...transferring the operation and management of the HHSC Maui Region health care facilities from the state to Kaiser Permanente....

To have their coverage effectuated, consumers generally need to pay their first month’s health plan premium. This release does not include totals for effectuated enrollments.....

...the new law incorrectly lumps e-cigarettes and lower-risk smokeless tobacco products in with the much more harmful nicotine cigarettes....

A recently published study proposes a pact between the public health community and the vaping community to combat a shared enemy, Big Tobacco....

Med-QUEST Division did not properly plan for or implement the ACA....

...only 24 percent trust that the government will help them....

...the total number of lives covered through 2015 enrollment was 16,803. For the current 2016 open enrollment period preliminary reports indicate enrollments of approximately 12,500 lives....

Hawaii had the Sixth Lowest Rate of Youth Drug Overdose Death Rates, Rate has Doubled in Just Over a Decade....

...Hawaii Scored Five Out of 10 on Key Indicators Related to Preventing, Detecting, Diagnosing and Responding to Outbreaks....

...fruits, vegetables, diary and seafood are more harmful to the environment because these foods have relatively high resource uses and green gas emissions per calorie....

Sixty-three special funds, revolving funds, trust funds, and trust accounts were reviewed....

'Natural' supplement makers are a key funding source for the anti-GMO movement....

...must enroll by 10 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015....

"...homeowner reluctance (many organic farms in the area and general opposition to chemicals) ... likely present unsurmountable obstacles...."

...spending per privately insured beneficiary in the highest spending HRR (Napa, CA) was $5,515.95, more than three times as high as spending in the lowest spending HRR (Honolulu, HI), which spent $1,707.38 per person....

Medicare will lower all its payments to the penalized hospitals by 1 percent over the course of the federal fiscal year, which runs through September 2016....

...our monthly premium is going up over $200 – an increase of 34%. To be able to afford health insurance, we are downgrading our health care plan....

Leading anti-GMO, anti-Vaxxers, and anti-pesticide activists and politicians are supporting the GMO, vaccine, and pesticide application being used to fight dengue.  They are hypocrites and need to be called on it....

Open enrollment began on Nov. 1 and concludes on Jan. 31, 2016....

Much of the alleged fraud focused on the defendants’ claims that their products were made from natural plant extracts.  In truth, as one defendant put it, “lol stuff is completely 100 % synthethic [sic]”....

In Hawaii there are more than 14,000 women veterans; only 4,300 access their benefits and health care through the VA....

The uninsured rate pre-Obamacare was 7.89 percent and has fallen to a current rate of 5.27 percent, with 31,653 persons gaining health insurance....

...the 2015 March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card for the first time grades the state’s counties and reveals persistent disparities between communities and among racial and ethnic groups....

As the sheen wears off of subsidized health coverage, and more Americans find they are paying hundreds per month for coverage that provides few benefits....

Our data set ranges from the percentage of adults and children who are overweight and obese to the sugary-beverage consumption among adolescents....

Leonard Gilroy, editor of the widely-read Annual Privatization Report, is an expert in how local, state, and federal governments are bringing competition to public services....

...mass shootings in this country are more a reflection of problems identifying and treating people with mental health problems....

Hawaii residents can go directly to Healthcare.gov or call toll free 1(800) 318-2596 to find a suitable plan and can enroll through January 31, 2016....

An investigation by Hawaii's state auditor into the state's Department of Health....

"The state will negotiate in good faith to secure the best possible outcome for our citizens and for employees of the facilities involved,” said Gov. David Ige....

The new policy also requires that a description of the curriculum used by the school to be made available to parents before instruction starts....

...0.5 to 1 percentage point increase in the part-time fraction in high-uninsurance states relative to low-uninsurance states....

Hawaii, which is in the process of closing out its exchange, received $205,342,270....

New Study Finds Excise Tax is Having Significant Impact on U.S. Employers ....

... factors were “pent up demand” for services sought by previously uninsured individuals, transitional plans and previously low penalties for ignoring ACA’s individual mandate keeping healthy populations out of the marketplace, high cost specialty drugs, and ACA taxes and fees ....

Now 41 of them say it has a major flaw that needs to be changed....

Witnesses from six states - California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Oregon – attended the hearing....

...reimbursing OIG for Federal financial participation claimed for costs related to investigations of ineligible cases, to misplaced equipment, and to unallowable costs for equipment....

...On September 9 Hawaii became the first state to post a draft waiver proposal for public comment....

“The Cadillac tax is a harmful provision that would affect one in four employers,” Hirono said....

"...I believe that we should not rush to complete a deal...."

Act 103 authorized Maui Region to transfer its facilities to a new entity as a way to mitigate future budget deficits....

Using these products for more than a month could be lethal....

The Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe for more than a decade has been challenged with overcrowded patient conditions....

But Hawaii has 3rd lowest obesity rates....

President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Visits Hawaii for the First Time....