The choice is yours, if you want it
The choice is yours, if you want it
Opportunity lost, a situation most often associated with communities exhibiting low voter turn-out.
Let’s focus on the opportunities that present themselves such as the pending availability to get federal funding for well thought-out projects, including the proper dispersal of our wastewater in Kailua-Kona or the closure and processing of the landfill in Hilo — both projects that impact our nearshore ocean environment and both issues that qualify for federal investment.
This next election is an opportunity to put people into office who understand this dynamic — and know how to secure Washington involvement.
Research the candidates and get out the vote. Pete Hoffmann has been the one candidate for mayor who has the platform recognizing the problems we face and the one who proposes to dig deeper, and not simply deal with the symptoms.
Don’t let the upcoming election revert into another popularity contest — get out the vote and choose candidates with solid commitments.
Kelly Greenwell
Kailua-Kona
Affordable health care?
Someday you will be on Medicare. Hopefully. We all get old. We all get sick. Three years ago, I got Medicare. Then the cost of my Medicare Advantage plan from one of Hawaii’s biggest insurers was zero. It was a decent plan with limited co-pays and deductibles. I rarely get sick so I loved it. It cost nothing because Medicare picked up the costs and the insurer managed the plan, and thereby managed the costs.
This same plan today costs me $153 per month. The new plan has higher deductibles, higher co-pays and only three months of drug coverage for certain medications. What’s up with that? I’m paying more and getting less. Why is one of the state’s biggest insurers sticking it to our seniors with inflated premiums and higher out-of-pocket costs for their Medicare Advantage plans? I don’t have a problem with a company making a profit, but I do have a problem with a company raising its premiums from zero to $153 in the span of three years and increasing co-pays and deductibles to seniors living on a fixed income. Additionally, the CEO of this company was given a 19 percent raise and now makes $1.3 million a year. By contrast, seniors saw no increase to Social Security this year.
Our state legislators should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the exploitation of our kupuna by one of the state’s biggest health insurers. The state has plenty of leverage over this insurer since all state employees can chose this as their primary insurance provider. The state should stand up for our residents and demand affordable and comprehensive coverage to those in our state or drop this or any other predatory insurer who profits from a vulnerable population.
Joseph Appleton
Waimea