Thinking of returning to Hawaii? think about much higher taxes. -ng-
Think about this: Current population of HI is 1.3 million. Take out those under 20 yrs old(about 30%) and you have 900,000 adults. 80,000 contribute nothing but their bennies are now guaranteed. I have heard that 75% of the State budget is current and past entitlements for state workers.
High Court Rules Health Benefits Guaranteed
Reported by: Andrew Pereira
Email: apereira@khon2.com
Last Update: 3/29 7:27 pm
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High Court Rules Health Benefits Guaranteed
STORY SUMMARY>>>
A recent ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court will have far reaching financial implications for the state's health benefits trust fund.
On Thursday the court ruled medical benefits acquired by already retired government workers are guaranteed under Hawaii's Constitution.
"That means once you got what you have it cannot be taken away,” said attorney Charles Khim, who successfully argued the case on behalf of six retired government workers with the assistance of local law firm Alston, Hunt, Floyd and Ing.
While the high court ruled Hawaii's Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund can scale back the medical benefits of current or future workers, Khim says the ruling is a victory for those workers who have already retired.
“For current retirees this is great news,” he said. “We're talking about seven years worth of being short changed on chemotherapy, on dental coverage, on a whole host of things that we cited in the lawsuit.”
According to Khim roughly 80,000 retirees and their relatives are covered under the Supreme Court decision. He says the next step is to determine how the EUTF would reinstate coverage that was lost since the state began trimming health benefits in 2003.
Khim says retirees may also be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses they were forced to absorb under their diminished health plans.
“We don't have an exact number because we're not actuaries,” Khim said, “but one could imagine that it could be very, very high.”
As healthcare costs have continued to spiral out of control, the EUTF Board of Trustees has embarked on cost cutting measures to ensure the solvency and vitality of the trust fund.
Khim says the EUTF could erect roadblocks in the effort to recalculate benefits owed to retired government workers under the Supreme Court ruling.
“When you don't want to pay money there's all kinds of ways to stall,” he said. “It could take a long time.”
The ultimate decision on how much health coverage is owed to retirees and their families will be made in Honolulu’s First Circuit Court, where the lawsuit was originally filed in 2006.
Khim says the Supreme Court ruling is a Pyrrhic victory for the lead plaintiff in the case, Marion Everson, who died of old age.
“It's just too bad the EUTF didn't do the right thing and grant her the benefits she was entitled to and that we had to go to the Supreme Court to make them do that.”
Russell Pang, Gov. Linda Lingle’s spokesperson, said officials within the administration were still in the process of going through the Supreme Court decision and could not provide comment |
