Health Care

turning to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could become a road map for cash-strapped cities....

Even Democrats have admitted the law has turned into a massive “train wreck,” with delays, glitches, and problems aplenty....

...prevent Hawaii residents from having their private medical information used as a marketing tool by drug middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), some of which also operate mail-order pharmacies....

A community pharmacist in the Northern Mariana Islands reports that his Medicare patients' closest preferred pharmacy is nine hours away by plane in Hawaii....

...if your population of patients is heavily inclined to Medicare and Medicaid then your reimbursements are low....

...mental health causes accounted for 5,180 hospital visits in Hawaii in 2011. That's well above the next highest cause, heart failure, with 2,954....

the Administration is delaying the employer mandate, which would force businesses with 50 or more full-time workers to provide government-approved insurance, until 2015....

overcharged Medicare for a back procedure known as "kyphoplasty" using a fraudulent billing scheme first exposed by two whistleblowers....

The number of veterans waiting more than a year to receive benefits jumped from 11,000 in 2009 to 245,000 by December 2012....

The ObamaCare law also stipulates that there "shall be no administrative or judicial review" of the board's decisions....

[M]ost of the specs have been written, but the all wiring hasn't been laid, and what will happen when they flip the switch nobody really knows....

A Medscape survey found 6 percent of physicians in the cash-only business in 2013, up from 4 percent in 2012. Most are primary care doctors....

within 5 years, half or more of them will be out of business....

By 2017, Hawaii is facing Medicare Home Healthcare payment at least 11.7% below cost, and up to 27.8% below cost....

... HHA continues to meet, without a budget, working on developing a universal, cost-effective health care system that will be ready for implementation when the Affordable Care Act inevitably fails....

As the federal government’s financial condition worsens, states will likely have to pick up even more of the cost....

A study of Hawaii's requirement that firms provide insurance to those working at least 20 hours a week found a slight increase in the share of workers falling below that threshold after the requirement went into effect....

The Department of Human Services (DHS) is implementing a state-of-the-art eligibility system, integrated with The Connector....

In addition to telephone assistance, the contact center staff will be available by email, postal mail, web chat and fax....

...out of $668.1 million in tax credits claimed in tax year 2011, the Service disallowed only $11 million, and failed to find a single case of fraud....

The Medicare program that provides health insurance to seniors faces a dire financial future.  And Obamacare is making it worse....

The America’s Health Rankings Senior Report finds that Hawaii has its share of strengths and challenges for senior health....

There is no federal law that requires health insurers to accept all forms of payment, including credit cards or the cash-loaded, pre-paid debit cards that people without bank accounts often rely on....

...over 90 percent of patients who would have been committed before deinstitutionalization are now out in the world....

Just as in Canada or Britain, we are going to experience rationing by waiting...

...many people are exempt from the mandate, and so the IRS has to know a lot about you in order to decide whether you are in compliance....

On October 1, millions of Americans are supposed to be able to go online and acquire health insurance on electronic exchanges in the states where they live....

...average medical charges were nearly tripled among those who did not use seat belts ($11,043), compared to restrained passengers ($3,817)....

Members of the House of Representatives are scheduled to vote Thursday to repeal all of Obamacare....

a payment dispute between the Hawaii Medical Service Association and the Wai­anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center was causing HMSA to lose 1000s of customers....

...many workers will soon discover that when they earn more money, they end up with less take-home pay....

... a new-media, information age repressive technique aimed at physicians ....

Those who are implementing Obamacare in Hawaii are now putting themselves on the record predicting disaster....

When Obamacare’s individual mandate takes effect in 2014, all Americans who file income tax returns must complete an additional IRS tax form....

...block grants to community organizations and individuals who are established as trusted resources within their communities....

For the first time ever, this score empowers you to make informed decisions about the safety of your hospital care....

...Shinseki has vowed to use integrated electronic records and paperless IT solutions to make health care more efficient...there has been little progress.....

Coming to Hawaii this fall....

...as far as physical health is concerned there is no difference between being in Medicaid and being uninsured....