Health Care

... contributions would be included in the employees’ income and taxed as normal wages when contributed. Further, the employees would be subject to federal income taxes on the portion of their benefits funded by the employer at the time that the benefits vest ....

...what happens if a benefit plan does get disqualified? According to the IRS’ website, there are potentially severe consequences to the employer, the employees, and the plan itself....

...Ratings for 28 Hospitals in Hawaii....

...the 2016 Summer Olympic Games are set to begin at the end of this week in Rio de Janeiro....

...pay providers for achieving results in lieu of a traditional fee-for-service model....

...kabuki theater aimed at baffling and confusing union members to make it look like their union bosses are actually doing something for them when they’re not....

Rats’ blood vessels took at least three times longer to recover function after only a minute of breathing secondhand marijuana smoke....

You would think that posting care home inspections online would have been easy....

When politics start to affect public health and well being, there’s a major problem....

In essence, the legislature just handed the Hawaii taxpayers a bill, and even they don't know how high it's going to be....

"The bill jeopardizes the Employees Retirement System’s tax exempt status...."

... Grassroot Institute Exposes Flaws in Veto Override Regarding Maui Hospitals ....

The caregiver of an elderly Zika patient in Utah has been diagnosed with the virus, raising questions among health officials about how the virus was transmitted....

Hawaii's First Direct Primary Care Practice Opens in Kailua-Kona ....

Legislators will convene on Monday, July 18th for a special session to determine whether $25 million in severance pay will be paid to union employees transitioning to new employment in a private hospital system....

"The legislature must avoid establishing a costly disincentive that would hinder the saving of other neighbor islands' hospital systems through healthy public-private partnerships...."

“There’s plenty of resistance from insurance companies at the state level against direct primary care."

...In a Special Session, Legislators may amend the bill and take a vote - bill passes with a simple majority....

...The new hospital public-private partnership is estimated to save the state $260 million in costs over the next decade....these savings could disappear if the costs for the transition is too great....

...the costs can add up to as much as $57,772 per year in Hawaii....

...single-payer advocates are focusing on individual states....

Compact Impact: Why Pacific Islanders are Fleeing to Hawaii - Neil Mellen...

On July 12, any measure that has not been signed or vetoed by Gov. Ige will become law with or without his signature....

20 years ago, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that an agreement between the County of Hawaii and a private contractor for the operation of a county landfill violated civil service laws....

...according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book....

...negotiations continue and the order still prevents the parties from actually closing the transaction....

...Meet the Insurance Executive Behind Assisted Suicide in Hawaii....

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is administered in odd-numbered years to Hawai‘i public school students in grades 6–12....

"All patients of all ages will be negatively impacted by service cuts, so please support privatization.”

Zika will not just disappear in Hawaii, it will take constant vigilance, and lots of pesticide spray, to keep it in check....

...OIA is now training migrants to maximize their dependency on taxpayer-funded services in Guam and Hawaii....

Next-generation seniors set to be less healthy than current seniors, with 55 percent growth in diabetes, 25 percent increase in obesity....

“He can be instrumental in our efforts to keep the UH Cancer Center NCI-designated"

The results are pretty bad, according to a report by Dr. Sanjay Gupta....

...the Obama administration already has the authority to pay for a Zika response from existing agency budgets, but chose not to....

...Will HGEA/UPW $40M Shakedown stand up in court?....

...part of a larger initiative to transform medical care for serious illness in the state of Hawaii....

Today’s order lasts only until September 30, 2016, unless sooner terminated by the Court. The Court also ordered the parties to the lawsuit to file a joint status report on or before June 30, 2016....

...Maui Health System will manage operations at each of the hospitals effective July 1, 2016....

... will Hawaii be next? ....

At 18.5%, Hawaii has the lowest adult obesity rate in the U.S., closely followed by Colorado at 19.8%....

...Study Examining Senior Care Cost and Quality Reveals Best and Worst States to Age in....

...The rule goes into effect August 8, 2016....

“Medicaid fraud takes tax dollars from patients who need coverage and gives it to criminals."

Dr. Phil Eskew, founder of DPC Frontier, says the bill’s language requesting the insurance division of DCCA to conduct a survey suggests Hawaii lawmakers don’t understand what DPC is....

... serious and sometimes fatal infections ... high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women ....

"...this measure unreasonably intrudes upon a system of federal law in violation of the Supremacy Clause...."

House Democrats are here to cut off your ....

When it comes to hiring a home health aide, where you live matters....

"As Zika continues to spread rapidly overseas, we must take precautionary measures to prevent any locally acquired cases from taking hold in our state.”