Health Care

"Wow, your kids are not even afraid of you.”

... how does your hospital rank? ....

... Mental illness is a central driver of the homelessness crisis ....

... Last year, 91 patients received aid-in-dying prescriptions, which is 31 more than the 2022 total ....

... another victory for greater healthcare freedom in Hawaii ....

... For 40 years, the Chevron precedent has been the backbone of administrative law, limiting judicial decision-making in favor of agency 'expertise' ....

... This year our freedoms were expanded with the passage by our state lawmakers of important legislation. Those expansions covered taxes, housing and healthcare ....

... the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a new State Plan Amendment (SPA) to cover community palliative care services through Medicaid ....

... House Finance was persuaded to resurrect SB 1035.  It then went to Conference Committee, and it came up with a version that both houses then passed ....

... Akina said HB2404 will incrementally provide Hawaii taxpayers with the biggest income tax cut in state history ....

... huge wins in the areas of taxes, healthcare and housing reform ....

... Hawai‘i State Department of Health awards ground ambulance contracts to American Medical Response ....

"they did not update their label”

... This year, the Legislature finally listened to their pleas and passed SB1035 ....

... More than four in ten people reported difficulties accessing medical care and medications, compared to about one in ten before the fires ....

... nonprofit hospitals are exempt from the GET, but small physician practices and clinics are not ....

... Get inside scoop at upcoming events on how good bills managed to prevail ....

... Hawaii ranks 47th in health care facilities per capita ....

... but Hawaii has the 5th-highest proportion of teenagers offered drugs on school grounds ....

... exempts hospitals, infirmaries, medical clinics, health care facilities, pharmacies, and medical and dental providers from General Excise Tax (GET) on goods or services that are reimbursed through Medicaid, Medicare, or TRICARE ....

... at least five bills strongly supported by my colleagues and I at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii were passed out of conference committees and now will go for final votes at the House and Senate floor sessions ....

... The application deadline for the second cohort of this groundbreaking program is July 1, 2024 ....

... the GET makes practicing in Hawaii so financially challenging, causing many Hawaii doctors to retire or move away ....

... The state’s high cost of living likely compounds these problems by hindering the recruitment of healthcare professionals ....

... highlights, frustrations at 2024 Legislature ....

... more than 500 health academy students who will receive hands-on training from Hawai‘i Pacific Health physicians and medical professionals to support the community clinic ....

... State lawmakers took an important first step last year by passing legislation that allowed Hawaii to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact ....

... From this point on, there will be no more public input via hearings. ...

... HB 1675: GET exemption for medical services paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE ....

... The files, which were leaked from within the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), were published by the US-based think tank Environmental Progress ....

... marijuana, abortion, parental rights ....

... Hawaii boasts the lowest percentages and costs in several key metrics ....

... from the average annual wage of physicians to the number of hospitals per capita to the quality of the public hospital system ....

... 2024 Legislature resumes session and Grassroot Institute is on the case ....

... to allow legal protections for any non-parent with sufficient access and means to remove a child of any age from their home state, and to bring them to Hawaii in the name of receiving “Gender Affirming Care” ....

... Final House Vote on Minor Access to Gender Affirmation Care ....

... supporting HB 1675 as the first step in getting rid of GET for medical services ....

... DOH conducted a full safety and security review of the State Operated Specialized Residential Program (SOSRP) and Hawai‘i State Hospital (HSH) facilities ....

... there were no professional licenses in Hawaii before Captain Cook arrived, therefore unlicensed midwifery is 'indigenous' ....

... 197 prescriptions have been written for death-inducing drugs in Hawaii since the passage of the state’s “medical aid in dying” law in 2019 ....

... first, Green's task force will seek out 'traumatized' State employees ....

... The tobacco industry spends an estimated $22 million on marketing in Hawaiʻi each year costing the state $611 million in annual health care costs, $1.1 billion in lost productivity, and nearly $1,000 per household in state and federal tax burden ....

... HB1780 Eliminating Good Friday? ....

... In a February 2, 2024 Order, 3rd Circuit Judge Robert D S Kim has voided HMSA, HMSA Medicare, and Quest ‘Participating Physician Agreements’ ....

... to increase the amount that hospitals in Alaska and Hawaii can be reimbursed by Medicare to perform outpatient procedures for enrolled seniors .... 

... contending that the EUTF had unconstitutionally diminished accrued retiree health benefits under Article XVI, Section 2 of the Hawai‘i Constitution ....

"...staff’s intentional attempts to inflate their pay...."

... American Lung Association “State of Tobacco Control” report releases Hawai‘i grades for tobacco control policies, outlines steps to reduce burden of tobacco ....

... Passage into law would take an important step toward further rejecting a federal prohibition scheme in practice and effect ....

... Hawaii 8th highest cost of smoking ....