Support speed bumps on Lahainaluna Road

Every year our West Maui County Council representative Tamara Paltin allocates funds in the budget for pedestrian improvements for the West Side. This year there are funds earmarked for speed bumps on Lahainaluna Road.

In May, a young pedestrian was hit by a vehicle along Lahainaluna Road near Kalena Street. Blessedly, it was not a fatality.

Na Kupuna O Maui supports and appreciates Councilmember Paltin and her persistence in trying to make our community safer for all, kupuna, makua and keiki. Unfortunately, kupuna have recently learned that not all projects are automatic even if there is funding available. The implementation of the projects is up to the Department of Public Works.

Councilmember Paltin told Kupuna that if residents want this specific project to move forward, they should call (808) 270-7855 and ask that the speed bumps be added to Lahainaluna Road work in 2023.

Our keiki need protection. Thank you, Tamara, for your leadership.

PATRICIA NISHIYAMA, Na Kupuna O Maui

GET tax hike is excessive

The tax is really a regressive tax, as it is on everything. If you have a dollar in your hand, you only have 95 cents of buying power.

According to The Maui News, in a half year the tax will generate about $40 million, of which I would think at most 50 percent will be contributed from tourists. So, that means $20 million from the people in Maui County.

The people on the low end of the economic ladder will pay the higher percentage of the income from this kind of tax. Let’s say a family of four makes $1,000 a week; of that, two weeks goes to pay rent, $700 for food, $400 for transportation, cell phones for everyone ($400), clothes ($200), television ($150), other expenses ($150).

But they would pay an extra $5 for these things, which could be a can of SPAM and a small bag of rice for the kids’ lunch — a couple of days that they wouldn’t have.

Also, from reading the paper, the County Council doesn’t seem to know what to do with this money. One suggestion is give some to DHHL which doesn’t spend the money it gets from the state yearly. They certainly couldn’t find a way to spend any more.

I don’t know if it’s possible just to add the General Excise Tax increase to the GET the short-term renters pay and the hotels. At least we will be getting back from the tourists and not the locals.

It wouldn’t be as much, but not hurt our islanders. If the .5 percent turns away tourists, then they shouldn’t have been coming anyway.

STEVEN B. ASHFIELD, Lahaina

Good news for Hawaii healthcare

State lawmakers recently handed Hawaii residents a great victory in the effort to improve healthcare access in Hawaii. Gov. Josh Green signed a series of healthcare-related bills, and one of those was SB674, which allows Hawaii to enter the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.

Joining the compact will make it easier for doctors from the 37 other member states to obtain a license to practice in Hawaii, which will help ease Hawaii’s longstanding doctor shortage.

The latest estimate is that Hawaii is short nearly 800 “full-time equivalent” doctors. Primary care physicians are most in demand, but the lack of certain medical specialists is so severe that patients from some areas in the state are forced to fly to Honolulu — or even the Mainland — to receive the healthcare they need.

In other words, we have long needed a series of reforms targeted at improving healthcare access in Hawaii — and now that’s starting to happen. I commend the Legislature for passing SB674, and Gov. Green for signing it.

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii actually had a big hand in getting SB674 across the legislative finish line. At the beginning of the year, we published a policy brief that discussed the ways in which licensing restrictions contribute to our shortage of medical professionals and lack of access to healthcare in general.

One solution proposed in the report is that Hawaii should join one or more of the interstate licensure compacts that allow doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to more easily practice across state lines.

That line of reasoning struck a chord with Hawaii lawmakers, and two of them — Health Committee Chairs Della Au Belatti in the House and Joy San Buenaventura in the Senate — introduced bills based on model legislation proposed by the Grassroot Institute.

Both chambers supported SB674 almost unanimously on its way to the governor’s desk, and now that Gov. Green has signed it, physicians from around the country will enjoy an expedited path to licensure in our state.

Of course, simply joining the IMLC won’t solve Hawaii’s physician shortage by itself. But it could start a wonderful trend of removing the regulatory barriers that make it unreasonably difficult for other healthcare providers to practice in our state as well.

So what should our next steps be? I suggest that Hawaii lawmakers explore having the state join other interstate compacts for medical professionals, such as the Nurse Licensure Compact, the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact, the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, the EMS Compact and the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact.

At a minimum, Hawaii could create its own license recognition process or establish an expedited path to state licensure for medical professionals who hold valid licenses from states.

Lawmakers also should exempt medical services from the state general excise tax. Hawaii is one of only two states that tax medical services and the only state to tax services for TRICARE and Medicare beneficiaries.

Hawaii doctors have been saying for years that the GET — which is often not passed on to the patient — is a substantial overhead cost that makes it more difficult and expensive to practice.

Finally, our lawmakers should take a hard look at the regulations that prevent growth and expansion of healthcare facilities in our state.

But for now, let us rejoice that Hawaii has taken an important step in the journey to a better healthcare system by joining the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. I look forward to our lawmakers removing more of the barriers that limit healthcare access for Hawaii residents.

DR. KELI’I AKINA, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii