When Hilo resident Charlotte Kaide read about an elderly Oahu couple that, after 67 years of marriage, is being forced to live in separate care homes, she felt as if she was reliving a nightmare.
When Hilo resident Charlotte Kaide read about an elderly Oahu couple that, after 67 years of marriage, is being forced to live in separate care homes, she felt as if she was reliving a nightmare.
“My blood started boiling,” she said.
The article described the same battle she fought for two years beginning in 2007 so that her parents, Terry and Sidney Kaide of Hilo, could live out their remaining days together.
Wednesday marked the six-year anniversary of what Kaide described as the story’s “happy ending”: the day former Gov. Linda Lingle signed into law a measure that allowed the couple to live in the same care home.
In 2009, the Kaides were the poster seniors. While they won their battle, the 2009 law came with a sunset provision and expired two years later.
Today, it’s 93-year-old World War II veteran Noboru Kawamoto and his wife, Elaine, who are fighting to be back with one another.
Earlier this year, Oahu Rep. John Mizuno introduced House Bill 600, which would authorize the state Department of Health to allow married and civil union couples to be cared for in the same community care foster family home, if certain requirements are met.
“Here we are, déjà vu, six years later,” he said.
Mizuno said he drafted the bill to address the Kawamotos’ heartbreaking situation, as well as any future ones like it. And if the bill dies, he said, the two won’t get to be together.
“It may not happen,” he said of it being passed. “That’s why I’m so concerned and worried. I’m a little hurt inside.”
After moving through both the House and Senate, HB 600 has been scheduled for a conference committee meeting today at 10 a.m.
Among those who testified in support of the measure is Jonathan Hanks, who cares for Noboru at his care home in Kaneohe. He said it is the first time the couple has been separated from one another for any significant amount of time.
“Marriage is a fundamental right, and there is no legitimate reason to keep this couple apart,” Hanks wrote. “Both Noboru and Elaine wish to be together in happiness and live out what time they have together at our community care family foster home in their home town of Kaneohe.”
As reported by a Honolulu newspaper, neither of the Kawamotos receives Medicaid, which means Elaine is not eligible to live with her husband at the home. Instead, she makes bi-weekly trips from Kahuku to Kaneohe to visit her husband.
For Kaide, who fought for two years to have the law changed, the Kawamotos’ story came as a shock. She had no idea that the law passed in 2009 would expire two years later.
“It’s just not fair,” she said. “I just feel for the Kawamotos because my mother and father suffered.”
Her hope is that HB 600 gets passed so that the Kawamotos can have the same happy ending her parents had before they passed.
While many caregivers have testified in support of the bill, the state Department of Health opposes it and says it is concerned that a possible unintended consequence is that it may displace or reduce the availability of community care foster homes for Medicaid recipients.
Additionally, the Department of Human Services said that while it recognizes that a care home operator needs to be able to have sufficient income, and there is a preference to keep married couples together, the department advocates for the need to ensure the availability of beds for Medicaid recipients who do not have the means to privately pay for housing.
Since its introduction, HB 600 has received support from a number of Big Island lawmakers, including Rep. Richard Onishi, D-Hilo, who voted in favor of it as a member of the House Committee on Finance.
Onishi said Wednesday that it is unfortunate that there was a sunset provision in the previous law.
“There is no sunset on this, so this is moving forward to fix that problem where you have a couple and they both need care (so) they can get care in a community foster care home,” he said.
Rep. Richard Creagan, D-Naalehu, Ocean View, said he supports the bill as it will fix situation for the Kawamotos. And given that the previous law wasn’t abused, he doubts this one would be either, he said.
Ultimately, Mizuno said that like the Kaides, the Kawamotos are asking for nothing more than to be with one another.
“I don’t know how much more unfair it would be, hurtful it would be, to keep this couple separated,” he said.
Kaide said she is planning to travel to Oahu today to testify at the hearing.
Email Chris D’Angelo at cdangelo@hawaiitribune-herald.com.