Health Care

... The ban on teleconferencing with mainland doctors was lifted during the COVID-19 crisis, but should be lifted permanently ....

... Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, has paid out over $108 million since 1997 due to malpractice settlements and verdicts ....

... One of the bills in this past legislative session that fell to the cutting room floor when it probably shouldn’t have was Senate Bill 1035, which would have exempted medical services provided by health care providers if the services were paid for by Medicaid, Medicare, or TRICARE ....

"... urgently take action to create safe and healthy digital environments that minimize harm and safeguard children’s and adolescents’ mental health ...."

... use his line-item veto power to trim back this massive spending overreach, including the $200 million “slush fund” ...

... SB674 awaiting the signature of Gov. Josh Green would allow physicians from other states to more easily practice here ....

... States Where Alzheimer's Is Expected to Soar by 2025 ....

... the Legislature approved a bill authorizing the state to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which will help alleviate the state’s doctor shortage, but shelved other licensure compact bills that would have applied to nurses and other healthcare professionals. It also failed to exempt medical services from the state’s general excise tax ....

... Annual Nursing Salary When Adjusted for Cost of Living ....

... toward upgrades to infrastructure to mitigate the risk of the hospital's closure ....

... HB1255 and SB1476 in support of $20 million Special Purpose Revenue Bond (SPRB) for West Maui Hospital ....

... Topics covered in the survey include unintentional injuries and violence; tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy; protective factors; mental health and suicide; dietary behaviors; and physical activity ....

... three reasons: the state general excise tax, Hawaii's occupational licensure laws and the state's medical certificate-of-need laws ....

... medical professionals have found Hawaii to be an increasingly uninviting place to practice ....

... in June 2022, an undercover agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) sought an appointment with Boulange, posing as a new patient seeking a prescription of opioids ....

... Hawai‘i has joined the rest of the nation in implementing sweeping changes that enable residents with disabilities and older adults to live and participate fully in their communities ....

... Hawaii ranks 51st ....

... SB1SD2 added language (over 40 pages) to protect medical providers that perform abortions ....

... The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii says making it easier for qualified medical professionals to practice here would improve healthcare access ....

... This can make it very difficult for Hawaii employers to offer HDHPs to their employees ....

... Hawaii Legislators' cradle-to-grave plan for your life .... 

... In 2019, the rate for Hawaiʻi (1.17 per 100,000) was almost three times the national rate (0.42 per 100,000) ....

... A Hawaii resident diagnosed with breast cancer could not find a physician to treat her ....

... Legislators have introduced multiple bills in the 2023 legislative session that seek to remove the GET for medical services in Hawaii, either wholly or in part. They include ....

... In 2017, Hawaii became the sixth state to extend pharmacist prescriptive authority to contraception ....

... removing the tax would lower medical costs and help alleviate the state's doctor shortage ....

... Hawaii lawmakers introducing consumer privacy bills and biometric privacy bills ....

... a recent national study of 3,000 counties in America found the Big Island has the third-worst shortage of healthcare providers in primary care, Maui has the fifth-worst shortage of healthcare providers in America, and Kauai has the 13th worst shortage ....

... 6th highest in USA ....

... spend nearly three times as long on educational requirements and be faced with shelling out twice as much in associated fees ....

... The emergency rule is effective for 120 days (eff. 12/5/2022 – 4/4/2023) ....

... The healthiest states were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Hawaii ....

... Hawaii ranks last in nation for early lung cancer diagnosis ....

... The state’s need for healthcare professionals has grown 76 percent – from 2,200 job openings in 2019 to 3,873 openings today ....

... The state is short more than 1,000 doctors, which means some patients cannot get care, and the ones who do have to wait a long time. ...

... RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms ....

... Hawaii has the highest percentage of at-risk rural hospitals in USA ...

...  the Hawaii Department of Human Services spent seven years litigating against an honest doctor in Hilo.  They lost ....

... A proposed certification scheme for community health workers would burden the workers and raise prices for everyone, according to a new report by Hawaii Office of the State Auditor ....

... Doula defendants take the stand against a fellow birth worker they accused of enticing women into creating maternity and breastfeeding porn ....

“If we exempted medical care from the general excise tax it would save doctors and patients more than $200 million [a year]. And that would help keep doctors in our state, rather than having to flee the state to earn money elsewhere...."

... the petition, which can be viewed here, calls on lawmakers to exempt medical services from the state’s general excise tax ....

"... LGBTQ+ students should have equitable access to confidential healthcare ...."

... In just two days, 48 seconds of PA James Winkler talking about the lack of doctors on Kauai has logged almost 610,000 views ....

... they told me, ‘Send this person to Costco’ ....

... Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has launched a petition urging the Hawaii Legislature to exempt medical services from the state’s general excise tax ....

... The average monthly Social Security disability benefit as of August 2022 was only $1,231.80 ....

... the terms “reef friendly” and “reef safe” are not regulated ....

... there is still a significant chunk of the population that is hesitant to get the vaccine ....

... Union Reports No Progress in First Bargaining Session Since Beginning of Strike, No Talks Scheduled This Week, Picketing Continues Today, Sept. 7 on Maui ....