OBAMACARNAGE (CONT.) HAWAII GOODBAII

Excerpted from an article at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser:

The Hawaii Health Connector has prepared a contingency plan to shut down operations by Sept. 30 after lawmakers failed to pass legislation to keep the state\’s troubled Obamacare insurance exchange afloat.

“Now that it is clear that the state will not provide sufficient support for the Hawaii Health Connector\’s operations through fiscal year 2016 (ending June 30, 2016), the Connector can no longer operate in a manner that would cause it to incur additional debts or other obligations for which it is unable to pay,” Connector officials said in a report released Friday to the nonprofit\’s board of directors.

The plan, obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, states the Connector will cease new enrollments Friday, discontinue outreach services May 31 and transfer its technology to the state by Sept. 30. The Connector\’s workforce will be completely eliminated by Feb. 28. The exchange has 32 employees, 29 temporary staff and 12 full-time contractors.

An estimated $1 billion in federal funds for Medicaid is also in jeopardy if the technology used to determine eligibility for tax credits cannot connect to the federal marketplace by November, the start of open enrollment,Rachael Wong, director of the state Department of Human Services, which administers Medicaid, told board members.

Because the Connector doesn\’t have enough money to keep the state-based marketplace active, the federal government has the right to cut off Medicaid funding under the ACA. Medicaid, which serves more than 300,000 residents, costs more than $2 billion a year, about half of which is funded by the federal government and half by the state.

Some state officials are worried that if the federal government takes over the exchange, Hawaii\’s 1974 Prepaid Health Care Act, requiring employers to provide health insurance for employees working at least 20 hours per week, will be abolished, and more people will become uninsured.

“All I know is healthcare. gov doesn\’t work,” Sen.Roz Baker (D, West Maui-South Maui) told board members. “We have to take the best calculated risk. There\’s a lot of unrealistic expectations.” 

Five years of national polling, right up to the present, shows that the public has never wanted ObamaCare when it was forced down our throats by a Democrat President and a 60%-majority Democrat congress.

And now, five years after ObamaCare started (and STILL has not been fully implemented because President Obama, acting outside the constitution, waived parts of the legislation passed by congress), this is what we\’re getting.

A question:  When Hawaii\’s exchange falls, does that mean policyholders no longer get federal subsidies?  Do they owe the difference? 

Hawaii may be a fun place to visit on vacation.  But  this is not going to be a fun time for its permanent residents.