Leaders representing the state, nonprofit organizations, health organizations and others met Friday at the Hilo Yacht Club to sound an alarm.
Leaders representing the state, nonprofit organizations, health organizations and others met Friday at the Hilo Yacht Club to sound an alarm.
“Making the Invisible Visible: The House IS Burning!” was the title of a panel discussion that drew approximately 50 people for a luncheon discussion about how to take ownership of the health care cost crisis.
The mission of the panelists was to raise a red flag so consumers and businesses alike awaken to the fact, for example, that skyrocketing health insurance premiums have been doubling every decade. That’s but one example of many related to the crisis, according to the panelists.
“Nobody really understands this. We have to let the people know,” said Barry Taniguchi, president and CEO of KTA Super Stores and president and chairman of Community First.
Community First is a nonprofit organization established in 2014 to help the community respond to the health care cost crisis and support initiatives that change health care from just treating disease to caring for health. There’s a push to find East Hawaii-generated solutions that work to “bend the cost curve” so the pace at which health insurance premiums increase slows.
Community First has been at the forefront of seeking collaboration in East Hawaii to find new models of health care that pay for good outcomes among patients instead of paying based on how many tests or procedures are performed.
“Everyone agrees that the system is broken and unsustainable,” Taniguchi told those in attendance. “But nobody is acting like the house is on fire. We’ve become like a frog that doesn’t jump out of the pot of water as the water is slowly brought to boil. Today, we want you to jump.”
Community First Executive Director Mike Sayama said it costs about $7,000 per year to insure a single person. That means a family of three is paying an average of $21,000 per year.
If food prices had increased at the same rate as health insurance, Sayama said, a pound of butter would have cost $108.29 — by 2009.
Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito displayed data demonstrating that health insurance premiums are now doubling in cost about every 10 years.
That means, he said, that by 2026 a single person will be paying $14,000 per year for health insurance.
“I agree we do have a health care crisis,” said Dan Brinkman, Community First director and CEO of the East Hawaii Region of Hawaii Health Systems Corp.
East Hawaii has a population of about 110,000 people, he said, and the annual health expenditure in the region is $750 million. About $225 million of that business occurs at Hilo Medical Center facilities.
Health care facilities such as HMC are caught in the strange scenario of trying to find ways to lower health costs by putting urgent care near the ER. An average ER visit costs about $650, whereas an average urgent care visit costs roughly $80.
In other words, HMC is finding new ways to offer services for which it gets paid less. Some people might say that’s an unwise business practice, Brinkman implied.
“The system is unsustainable. We have to bring value. We have to reduce costs and we have to improve care,” Brinkman said. For the hospital to go from $650 for ER visits to approximately $80 by offering more appropriate urgent care alongside the emergency room, “we can not survive on that,” he said.
“The health care crisis is here,” Taniguchi said. “Don’t close your eyes. Do something.”
Want to get involved?
Email akent@ponocorp.com or call 464-2800. There’s also another Community First presentation from 5:30-7 p.m. Nov. 9 at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo. The presentation is titled “Health Care Reform 101,” with speaker Harold Miller.
Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.