Health Care

While expenses have been slowly increasing for health care providers, legislated payment updates have remained flat since 2011....

Vermont is trying to get a refund of hundreds of thousands of dollars and has refused to pay $5.1 million of its contract with the company....

For those that made a good-faith effort to complete an application but are unsure of the application status, we encourage those consumers to call our Customer Support Center....

$14,321,000 – Information/Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System, statewide....

Beginning Jan. 1, regulators expect it will be literally impossible for an individual to buy a new policy in the Northern Mariana Islands, and difficult in other territories....

In the past, paramedics would have taken the man to the closest hospital emergency room.... But instead, under a pilot program, paramedics ushered him through the doors of Holly Hill Hospital, a commercial psychiatric facility....

...the Governor has until Feb. 9, 2014, to name a permanent director....

Hawai'i Health Connector is extending its enrollment deadline from December 23 to tomorrow, December 24, in line with a federal announcement earlier today....

Medicaid wasn’t working for Moise....

the nation's ability to prevent and control infectious disease outbreaks is hampered by outdated systems and limited resources....

...the exchange will be expected to fund its $10 million to $14 million in annual operations through fees on local insurance companies....

Most of the people applying for Obamacare are being funneled into Medicaid....

ObamaCare is only going to get worse....

As Obama so ironically threatened in 2009, “If you misrepresent what’s in this plan, we will call you out.” To that end, here are 10 promises of Obamacare that have already been broken....

U.S. government that it is taking steps to improve the collection of health data for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders....

"Turning down 30-40% of requested calls puts our residents at a greater risk of death or prolonged injury and is unacceptable,” said Councilmember Kymberly Marcos Pine

CMS recently announced that it will extend the federal programs to encourage physicians and hospitals to adopt electronic health records ....

The 217-page manual reads like a primer for Amway....

Two of the problems Obamacare promised to solve were getting coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and helping the uninsured get coverage....

...the “Number of Individuals Who Have Selected a Marketplace Plan” is “pre-effectuated” -- including individuals who have not made any premium payments....

...dedicated hospital observation units could lead to $950 million in national cost savings, according to a new study in Health Affairs....

...nonessential management employees are being furloughed three days per month for the next six months as part of a cost-cutting drive....

• DATE: Tuesday, December 17, 2013
• TIME: 10 a.m.
• PLACE: Conference Room 229, State Capitol

...amid the rush to enroll as many people as possible by the Dec. 23 deadline, there's a huge caveat that isn't getting much public attention: For coverage to take effect on Jan. 1, enrollees must pay their first month's premium....

To meet the promise of free preventive care nationwide, every family doctor in America would have to work full-time delivering it, leaving no time for all the other things they need to do....

In Hawaii, 48.2 percent of adults aged 25 years and older with at least a high school education report their health is very good or excellent compared to only 28.0 percent with less than a high school education....

...a health insurance premium sheet that will give consumers a better idea of what a new 2014 Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan will cost compared to their existing 2013 health plan....

On November 14, 2013, President Obama announced that States could decide whether to allow small group and individual health insurance policies existing on Oct. 1, 2013 to be renewed for a policy year starting between January 1, 2014 and October 1, 2014....

Matsuda resigned his post as Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation manager in the Governor’s office on Friday, Dec. 6....

A summary of changes coming up as a result of the Affordable Care Act in 2014....

The Healthcare Association of Hawaii (HAH) praised a select group of local, long term care member providers for their achievement....

Fifteen years after the 1998 state tobacco settlement, Hawaii ranks 5th in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking....

...state-run exchanges in Minnesota, Hawaii, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia are vulnerable....

Gov. Neil Abercrombie, one of the state’s most vocal advocates of Obamacare, predicted at a news conference Sept. 17 that the state’s 100,000 uninsured, plus thousands more, would sign up for insurance once the Health Connector launched Oct. 1....

In 2011, the Obama Administration suggested that as many as 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions were “at risk” and “could be denied coverage” without Obamacare....

• DATE: Monday, December 9, 2013
• TIME: 2:00 pm
• PLACE: Conference Room 329, State Capitol 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating  the Hawaii State Hospital, hospital administrators have confirmed....

...recommended legislation related to Hawai`i’s insurance exchange for the 2014 legislative session....

The plan on the table in Congress would raise the federal minimum wage above $10 an hour (which is higher than all existing state rates)....

• DATE: Monday, December 09, 2013
• TIME: 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
• PLACE: Conference Room 229, State Capitol

The President said yesterday that he’s “learned not to make wild promises” anymore....

...the AG told the league the health connector is not required to provide voter information on its website because it is an independent, nonprofit agency....

High HIV prevalence, lack of awareness of HIV-positive status, unprotected anal sex, and increased viral load among HIV-positive MSM not on antiretroviral treatment contribute substantially to new infections among this population....

HealthCare.gov can’t fix anything that’s wrong with Obamacare....

Because Hawaii legislators exempted the health law from many of the rules that hold other government ventures accountable, there remain more questions than answers about the debacle....

From 1621, when the Pilgrims arrived in the New World, to 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared it a federal holiday, thanking God and practicing religion were of paramount importance....

• DATE: Monday, December 02, 2013
• TIME: 2:00 pm
• PLACE: Conference Room 329 State Capitol

Obamacare goes against prioritizing help for the disabled over assistance for able-bodied adults....

...Meanwhile HMSA Announces ANOTHER 4.4% Rate Hike Thanks to Obamacare....