{"id":381631,"date":"2026-04-16T00:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/381631\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T00:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:53:08","slug":"the-cost-of-supporting-hawaiis-local-working-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/381631\/","title":{"rendered":"The cost of supporting Hawaii\u2019s local working families"},"content":{"rendered":"

In HNN\u2019s new livestream show \u201cCovering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos,\u201d<\/a> we break down the numbers behind Hawaii\u2019s affordability crisis in candid conversations with financial experts, entrepreneurs and community leaders. <\/p>\n

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – In the next episode of \u201cCovering the Cost\u201d on April 15 at 12:30 p.m., Annalisa Burgos talks to Ray Vara, president\/CEO of Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH), and Mark Mugiishi, president\/CEO of Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), about their proposed partnership known as \u201cOne Health Hawaii.\u201d UHERO health economist Tim Halliday will also weigh in on the impact of the proposed merger in light of current health economic policies.<\/p>\n

Hawaii is projected to spend nearly $200 billion in healthcare in the next decade, and lose nearly $3 billion in federal subsidies. With Hawaii\u2019s healthcare system struggling with rising costs and shrinking access, the state\u2019s largest insurer and second-largest hospital network say One Health Hawaii will prevent a buyout by a mainland company. Critics worry it would create a monopoly that unfairly shifts burden and costs to other hospitals.<\/p>\n

HPH and HMSA executives say the plan will help streamline care and cut administrative costs potentially saving up to $2 billion over the next decade. They point to double digit increases in the cost of providing healthcare in Hawaii, exacerbated by federal cuts to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act premiums.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout change, those pressures will only increase, so I would argue that danger to safety net procedures and provider mix and all of that are far more concerning in the current status quo than they would be in an integrated model. <\/p>\n

But critics note that HMSA covers about 70 percent of the state\u2019s health insurance market, and this kind of \u201cvertical merger\u201d would limit competition and shift more burden and patient costs to other hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m as concerned as they are that you folks are gonna start offloading patients with high needs because they\u2019re not adding value to One Health Hawaii,\u201d said state senator Joy San Buenaventura, chair of the Senate committee on Health and Human Services.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to statutes put into place by this esteemed body, the insurance commissioner, the attorney general, and other regulators specifically tasked with making sure that it\u2019s accessible, affordable, and fair,\u201d said Mark Mugiishi, CEO of HMSA. <\/p>\n

Critics say there is little precedent for a hospital system merging with a monopoly health insurer and a regulatory framework is needed to ensure oversight and accountability. <\/p>\n

The merger is undergoing an antitrust review by the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General, and insurance regulators.<\/p>\n

Catch \u201cCovering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos\u201d<\/a> Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. online, on HNN\u2019s streaming app and anywhere you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n

From skyrocketing housing prices to the country\u2019s highest tax burden, Annalisa is covering the cost of aloha in America\u2019s most expensive state and offering practical strategies, policy insights, and honest talk about what it really takes to call Hawaii home.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In HNN\u2019s new livestream show \u201cCovering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos,\u201d we break down the numbers behind Hawaii\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[47704,198397,3311,2917,198396,3528,219,2420,198403,198398,198402,134,12653,527,198401,2241,198400,17053,39209,28126,111,139,69,198399,3800,8780,198404],"class_list":{"0":"post-381631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-affordable-care-act","9":"tag-annalisa-burgos","10":"tag-consumer","11":"tag-cost-of-living","12":"tag-covering-the-cost","13":"tag-doctors","14":"tag-economy","15":"tag-hawaii","16":"tag-hawaii-medical-service-association","17":"tag-hawaii-news-now","18":"tag-hawaii-pacific-health","19":"tag-health","20":"tag-health-insurance","21":"tag-healthcare","22":"tag-hmsa","23":"tag-hospital","24":"tag-hph","25":"tag-insurance","26":"tag-medicaid","27":"tag-merger","28":"tag-new-zealand","29":"tag-newzealand","30":"tag-nz","31":"tag-one-health-hawaii","32":"tag-podcast","33":"tag-premium","34":"tag-uhero"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}