Senate passes immigration reform bill

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved the most significant overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws in a generation with broad support generated by a sense among leading Republicans that the party needed to join with Democrats to remove a wedge between Republicans and Hispanic voters.

The strong 68-32 vote in the often polarized Senate tossed the issue into the House, where the Republican leadership has said that it will not take up the measure and is instead focused on much narrower legislation that would not provide a path to citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the country. Party leaders hope that the Senate action will pressure the House.

Leading up to the final votes, which the senators cast at their desks to mark the import of the moment, members of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” who drafted the framework of the legislation took to the Senate floor to make a final argument for the measure. Among them was Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the Republicans leading Hispanic voices.

When Rubio finished, the other senators in the group surrounded him on the floor, patting him on the back and offering words of encouragement. “Good job,” one said. “I’m proud of you,” another offered.

The future will show whether voters in Republican presidential primaries share that pride.

here comes ObamaCare

[7/21/13] Gordon Ito, state insurance commissioner, may be feeling a bit under the gun these days.

Just around the corner lurks the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly called the ACA or "Obamacare," so naturally people want to know from Ito how much they'll be paying for health insurance in the near future.

At the earliest, people won't see that bottom line until Oct. 1, when the Hawaii Health Connector, like other online insurance marketplaces developed in states nationwide, is due to open for business under the new federal law. And that will spell things out for individuals and small businesses that are eligible for the online exchange, not for people who get their insurance as most now do, through their employer.

Employer groups are still in discussions with insurance carriers about pricing for benefit packages under the new rules, which may hinge more directly on factors such as the age of the workers. But Ito does have one clear message he offers, meanwhile.

"When people ask about rates, the first thing I say is, ‘Don't shoot the messenger!'" he said, drawing laughs from the attentive audience.

[7/2/13] The White House on Tuesday delayed for one year the new requirement under the Affordable Care Act that businesses provide health insurance to employees, a fresh setback for President Obama’s landmark health-care overhaul as it enters a critical phase.

The provision, commonly known as the employer mandate, calls for businesses with 50 or more workers to provide affordable quality insurance to workers or pay a $2,000 fine per employee. Business groups had objected to the provision, which now will take effect in January 2015.

[6/24/13 ] WASHINGTON (AP) - Fewer than 100 days before uninsured Americans can sign up for coverage, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday the administration is gearing up with new call centers, a revamped website - and a confab with the National Football League.

No deals yet, Sebelius told reporters. But she said the idea of partnering to publicize the benefits of health insurance has gotten an enthusiastic reception from the NFL and other pro sports leagues.

Health promotion is a goal for the leagues and "good for the country," Sebelius said.

Football season would be in full swing Oct. 1, when consumers can start shopping for coverage under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Benefits take effect Jan. 1, around the time of the playoffs.

Opponents are looking for a goal-line fumble by the Obama administration as the long-awaited expansion of coverage for the uninsured finally happens. But if Sebelius is nervous, she doesn't let on.

"It's a huge undertaking across the country, and I'm confident we're going to get it done," she said. Not only sports leagues, but community organizations, religious denominations and public health groups will be involved with outreach.

Starting Oct. 1, consumers will be able to access new online marketplaces through HealthCare.gov and shop for private insurance plans in their communities. The federal government site will be the main portal to the new law, since about half the states are letting Washington run the coverage expansion.

Middle-class people who don't have job-based coverage will use the marketplace to apply for tax credits to help pay their premiums — a process that's supposed to take place smoothly and in close to real time, though skeptics doubt it. Low-income people will be steered to an expanded version of Medicaid in states that accept it.

All told, it's the biggest expansion of the social safety net since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid nearly 50 years ago. With polls showing that the law remains unpopular, and even many uninsured don't think they'll be helped, things are likely to get off to a slow start.

About 7 million people are expected to sign up for coverage in the new marketplaces next year, also called exchanges. That number is projected to more than triple in a few years.

Healthcare costs slowing down?

There have been 2,470 mentions of the phrase "spiraling health care costs" in the media over the last year, according to Google. But as investor Eddy Elfenbein points out, medical costs are doing anything but spiraling. "Healthcare costs have outrun the cost of everything else for decades," he writes. "Suddenly, that trend has come to an end. Over the last year, healthcare costs have actually trailed broader consumer prices."

The year-over-year change in the medical care portion of the Consumer Price Index is now at the lowest level in 40 years.

Or as Eddy points out, medical care is growing slower than core inflation for the first time in decades:

40% of food uneaten in the U.S.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to require residents to compost their food waste may cause headaches for some families, but experts say it could also help cut their rising grocery bills.

Under the proposal, by 2016 the city will require residents to separate their food waste for collection. Organic waste in New York City — which could otherwise be recycled for fertilizer or natural gas — currently accounts for 1.2 million tons or 35% of landfills, and a pilot program on Staten Island achieved a participation rate of 43%, according to the mayor’s office. Last year, Vermont introduced a bill to by 2020 require residents to recycle their food waste — and 33% of the organic waste in that state already gets composted.

Aside from the environmental advantages of composting, the effort may also be a boon for pocketbooks. Throwing out separate bags filled only with uneaten food could work as a big wake-up call for consumers, experts say. “We have a tendency to overbuy and overcook,” says Phil Lempert, CEO of grocery information site SupermarketGuru.com. “Awareness of how much food you’re wasting does help people buy properly. As prices go up, people also become more aware.” And consumers today have every reason to be more judicious in the grocery store. The price of food purchased for consumption at home is expected to rise 2.5% to 3.5% in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As much as 40% of food goes uneaten in the U.S., according to estimates from the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. Americans are, in other words, throwing out the equivalent of $165 billion in wasted food every year, according to a recent analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental group. In fact, one study estimates, just 15% of wasted food would be enough to feed more than 25 million Americans every year. And one in six Americans currently lacks a secure supply of food, says Dana Gunders, an NRDC project scientist in San Francisco.

Grocery bills are the biggest household expense. The average American family of four spends between $632 and $1,252 per month on grocery bills, according to the Department of Agriculture’s April 2013 “Cost of Food” survey. Composting forces people to actually see how much food they’re throwing away and how much money they’re wasting, says Andrew Shakman, president of LeanPath, a Portland-based company that tracks food waste in industrial kitchens. LeanPath helped cut food waste at the University of California, Berkeley, campus by 43%.

There are, of course, easier ways to cut one’s supermarket bill than composting. Consumers can waste less food by bringing a calculator to the store, making a note of when food goes bad, cooking only what they need and eating their leftovers, experts say. iPhone apps like Green Egg Shopper ($3.99) and Food Storage & Shelf Life ($1.99) can help keep track of perishables. One caveat to Bloomberg’s plan, however: “Recycling can also give less conscientious people a good excuse to waste,” Shakman says.

-- via twitter

Hawaii's population mix

Hawaii has the highest percentage of Asians (or part-Asians) of any state in the United States, far outsurpassing California 56.9% to 15.8%.  It also has the lowest percentage of whites (or part-whites) of any of the states (including Washington D.C.) at 43.8%.

However I believe Caucasians (or hapa) make up the highest percentage of any race over Japanese.

If you can classify Caucasian as a race that is.  Maybe not.  If you classify Caucasian as a race (which includes United States, Canadians, German, Italian, French, etc.), then I guess you could classify Asian as a race (included Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, etc.)  I dunno.

Suffice to say, Hawaii is the most mixed state in the United States.

affordable care act may be unaffordable

WASHINGTON » It's called the Affordable Care Act, but President Barack Obama's health care law may turn out to be unaffordable for many low-wage workers, including employees at big chain restaurants, retail stores and hotels.

That might seem strange since the law requires medium-sized and large employers to offer "affordable" coverage or face fines.

But what's reasonable? Because of a wrinkle in the law, companies can meet their legal obligations by offering policies that would be too expensive for many low-wage workers. For the employee, it's like a mirage — attractive but out of reach.

The company can get off the hook, say corporate consultants and policy experts, but the employee could still face a federal requirement to get health insurance.

Many are expected to remain uninsured, possibly risking fines. That's due to another provision: the law says workers with an offer of "affordable" workplace coverage aren't entitled to new tax credits for private insurance, which could be a better deal for those on the lower rungs of the middle class.

Some supporters of the law are disappointed. It smacks of today's Catch-22 insurance rules.

"Some people may not gain the benefit of affordable employer coverage," acknowledged Ron Pollack, president of Families USA, a liberal advocacy group leading efforts to get uninsured people signed up for coverage next year.

"It is an imperfection in the new law," Pollack added. "The new law is a big step in the right direction, but it is not perfect, and it will require future improvements."

Aloha Medical Mission

Aloha Medical Mission has been saving and changing lives for 30 years, both abroad and in Hawaii with a free dental clinic at Palama Settlement.

At AMM’s annual gala on May 17, Art Ushijima, president of Queen’s, Michael Gold, president of HMSA, and Dr. Brad Wong, president of AMM will be honored for their support.

For the past 30 years, AMM has been helping the less fortunate on our shores and beyond. It began originally as a small group of Filipino surgeons who wanted to help poor children with cleft lips in their native land. A simple operation that takes mere minutes in the hands of a capable physician began transforming these kids’ lives.

“With the cleft lip, they cannot suckle at their mother’s breast because they cannot get suction,” says Wong, who joined the organization in 1988 and now serves as its president. “They have trouble eating and speaking, but they live with it despite being ostracized – and yet in 45 minutes, with a trained surgeon, their life is changed.”

The mission has grown dramatically through the years, branching out from the Philippines into Nepal, New Guinea and several other Pacific islands with an all-volunteer surgery crew performing more than 15,000 life-changing operations.

While Hippocrates urged future physicians, “If he is in need of money, give him a share of mine,” how does one convince doctors to neglect their practice to go help others they will never see again and whom they actually have to pay to treat?

“It is my experience that people who are sacrificing the most don’t even think they are sacrificing; it is really a puzzle,” says Wong, who finds that doctors who volunteer come back again at an 80 percent rate. “We all want to help others, but, for me it was something that is not definable. It is kind of in your genes; it is not an altruistic thing, not a conscious decision to do this because this is better. It just kind of happens. It feels good to do.

“The odd thing is we pay money to go take care of their patients for free! It is $65 to get a temporary license, so I pay $65 for the privilege of taking care of their patients for free.”

For Wong, this is a small price for the enrichment he receives and is much more exciting than touring around France on a Europass or cruising the crystal blues of the Mediterranean.

“It is better and more exciting than taking a vacation, taking a tour or looking at a cathedral – that is pretty passive, and after three days I am pretty bored,” says Wong. “But on a mission, there is not a day of boredom. It is exciting every day to have this feeling you are helping this person, and not just one, but seven or eight patients a day.”

The surgeons have expanded from their original campaign to fix cleft lips and now specialize in a variety of safe, elective operations, but avoid risky procedures that might hurt their future acceptance into these countries.

Not all their work is done overseas. Locally, they launched Kokua me ka Laulima, “Help with Many Hands,” which offers general surgery services to the uninsured and the poor here on Oahu in a partnership with Queen’s and Castle medical centers.

“Over the years, The Queen’s Medical Center has been proud to support the Aloha Medical Mission,” says Art Ushijima, president of QMC. “One of the projects we are especially pleased to support is Kokua me ka Laulima, a collaboration among AMM, Castle Medical Center, private surgeons, anesthesiologists and community health centers to provide free outpatient surgery to the uninsured poor in the state of Hawaii. For Queen’s and our dedicated staff, it has been gratifying to experience the improvements made in the lives of those who have no means to obtain needed medical care.”

Academy of Pacific (AOP) shutting down

The Academy of the Pacific, a small private school in Alewa Heights, is shutting down due to financial struggles, the school’s board chairman announced today.

“Due to declining enrollment and increased financial pressures on families leading to greater need for tuition assistance, the school can no longer financially sustain itself nor continue to offer our students the very best in 21st century education,” Board Chairman Barron Guss said in a statement.

The nondenominational school, which served about 100 students in grades 6 through 12, was established to serve “creative and outside-the-box learners,” according to the school’s website. It charged tuition of $17,700.

While Guss said the board would “explore a variety of future possibilities,” a letter posted on the school’s website says the campus will “indefinitely cease academic operations” effective for the upcoming 2013-14 school year.