Hawaiʻi Healthcare Task Force
Clinician-led Hawaiʻi 501(c)(4) working on payment reform, network adequacy, antitrust scrutiny and Neighbor Island access, with every claim sourced.
Latest articles
- Buckle Up — Medicaid is changing. New rural health money is arriving on a clock. The state already says the Big Island blew them away. Four things every clinician can do now, and why this island should lead.
- Twenty-Five Years, Then Laser-Focused — People tried for 25 years to stop Hawaiʻi from taxing doctors for Medicare and Medicaid care. It passed when we got narrow, got together, and stayed visible. Here is the method.
- You're Not Alone This Time — When a storm hit Kaʻū, doctors whose own practices were struggling organized care within days. Local doctors, local aunties, and a county partnership. The people with the least to spare showed up.
- They Know What They Lack — On Oʻahu, we read the state's numbers and move on. On Hawaiʻi Island, people pick up the list and start calling names. 783 listings, 194 practicing clinicians, and an island that checks its own count.
- Resources That Don't Go Together — A Hilo radiologist asked for breast cancer data on July 12. He had it on the 14th. By September, an independent practice and the public hospital had a tentative plan to keep screening in East Hawaiʻi.
- What One Health Hawaiʻi Has Not Yet Shown — Most of One Health Hawaiʻi’s promised benefits do not require integration. Before approval, HMSA and HPH should show what common governance uniquely adds and how it will expand care.
- Hawaiʻi Island Has Enough Mammography Machines. What It Does Not Have Is a Way to Reach Them. — Hawaiʻi Island has more certified mammography facilities per resident than Oʻahu. It has 28 times fewer per square mile. Five facilities, three towns, 4,028 square miles. The shortage is reach.
- Invisible Twice: The Behavioral Health Network Hawaiʻi Never Measured — The State's own quality review excluded seriously mentally ill patients from its network calculations. We measured what was never counted: the beds, the clinicians, and the arithmetic underneath Hawaiʻi's homelessness c…
- One Health Hawaiʻi and the Medical Loss Ratio Question — One Health Hawaiʻi should be reviewed by economic substance, not label, because HMSA’s MLR treatment may show whether insurer-provider payments remain independent or stay inside one enterprise.
- Trust Is Not Evidence | One Health Hawaiʻi, HMSA, HPH, and the Burden of Proof — Trust is not evidence. One Health Hawaiʻi’s backers should prove, with independent evidence, that consolidation will help patients instead of raising costs.
- Hawaii’s Health Insurers Began Differently. Are They Ending Up in the Same Place? — Hawaiʻi's health insurers were founded with different missions. Their governance and conduct are converging. Here is the record.
- Meet Your New Healthcare Provider — When insurance policies push Hawaiʻi’s doctors out, patients are left with an algorithm. Primary care is not a substitute input.
Reports
- HHIP GPCI Primary-Care Undervaluation Analysis — Quantitative analysis of how the Medicare Geographic Practice Cost Index undervalues Hawaiʻi primary care relative to actual practice costs.
- HHIP Three-Pillars Deck — The HHIP architecture: data utility, federated modules, and clinically-integrated network governance. Strategic deck.
- HHIP Integrated Long-Form Brief — Comprehensive policy and technical brief on HHIP as a statewide health data utility for Hawaiʻi.
- HHIP Executive Breakdown for the Department of Health — Executive summary of HHIP positioned for the Hawaiʻi Department of Health's decision context.
- HMSA vs. Hawaiʻi PCPA: Reimbursement and Conduct Brief — Comparative brief on HMSA reimbursement practices vs. the Hawaiʻi Primary Care Practitioners Association position.
- Same-Day E/M Denials: HMSA vs. NCCI Standards — Policy brief documenting HMSA same-day E/M denial practices against National Correct Coding Initiative standards.
- HMSA Same-Day E/M Denials — Coalition Inquiry Letter — Coalition letter to HMSA requesting documentation of same-day E/M denial methodology and policy basis.
- Prior Authorization Is Not a Clinical Tool — Prior authorization functions as a cost-containment lever, not a clinical safety mechanism. The evidence base from Hawaiʻi providers.
- The Directory Is Lying to You — Hawaiʻi payer directories contain inaccurate, outdated, and ghost provider listings. Patients cannot rely on the published network. Evidence and policy recommendations.
- Hawaiʻi Physician Survey: HMSA Same-Day E/M Denials — Survey results from Hawaiʻi physicians documenting frequency, financial impact, and clinical impact of HMSA same-day E/M denials.
Upcoming and recent events
- Primary Care Spending Target — Provider Working Session — Saturday 12 September 2026, 4:00–4:40 PM HST, Room 314, JABSOM. How much of Hawaiʻi's health care dollar must reach primary care — and how the law makes it real.
- Access, Capacity, and Patient Safety — a statewide conversation on strengthening healthcare for all — Friday 18 September 2026, 9:30–11:00 AM HST, Asia Room, Hawaiʻi Imin International Conference Center, Honolulu. A ninety-minute session on what Hawaiʻi's healthcare capacity actually is, island by island, and what it means for patient safety.