Hawaii
Schatz, Tokuda seek higher payments for physicians – West Hawaii Today
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, alongside Hawaii’s congressional delegation, on Thursday introduced legislation seeking higher Medicare reimbursements for the state’s health care providers.
The Protecting Access To Care in Hawaii Act — or PATCH Act — seeks a 24% increase, which would bring it in line with what Alaska gets, according to Schatz. He said it is key to helping the state retain and recruit doctors for a growing number of seniors.
The timing is more urgent than ever, he added, as Hawaii faces an increasingly acute provider shortage, especially on neighbor islands.
“As more people reach Medicare age in Hawaii, we are seeing fewer health care providers because of the rising operating and living costs in our state,” said Schatz. “Our bill would help fix that, boosting Medicare payments to providers and protecting health care access for the 300,000 seniors in Hawaii that rely on Medicare.”
It is also a matter of fairness, according to Schatz.
Currently, Medicare physician payments per beneficiary in Hawaii are the lowest in the U.S, and reimbursement rates do not factor in Hawaii’s higher health care operating costs due to its geographic isolation.
The bill would revise a “work geographic index” to reflect those higher costs, and is basically seeking the same level of reimbursements as Alaska.
“In lots of other areas of federal reimbursement, there’s a recognition that Hawaii and Alaska are in a category of their own as it relates to costs that would better reflect our reality,” said Schatz.
U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, who introduced the companion House bill, said Hawaii consistently ranks among the healthiest states in the U.S., yet remains one of the worst states in which to practice medicine because of lower compensation and higher operating costs.
“Especially on our Neighbor Islands, this is exacerbating the access to the health care crisis that exists, often making it difficult to recruit and retain physicians and to get patients the timely quality care they need,” Tokuda said in a statement. “My legislation would ensure Medicare reimbursements more accurately reflect the real cost to provide care in Hawaii so that we can keep more local doctors and attract new physicians to the state.”
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said the low physician reimbursements in Hawaii add another obstacle to accessing and providing health care.
“I’m proud to support this legislation to help ensure that our physicians — and other health professionals — are being fairly compensated, while also expanding access to health care across the state,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Ed Case said medical practitioners have struggled for years to provide quality care while dealing with the mounting cost of doing business in Hawaii.
“This bill will help our health care providers focus on providing care through Medicare and spend less time worrying about inadequate reimbursement,” he said.
Earlier this year, Sens. Schatz and Hirono also introduced a bill alongside their Alaska colleagues, seeking higher Medicare reimbursements for outpatient care from hospitals, including emergency room visits, for enrolled seniors in the two states.
In 2021, they also sought to boost Medicare reimbursements for nursing homes in Hawaii and Alaska through the bipartisan Equitable Payments for Nursing Facilities Act.
Those bills are still pending.
Hawaii has a shortage of about 800 full-time physicians, according to the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.
Other efforts to address the doctor shortage include an educational loan reimbursement program for health care workers that commit to two years of service in Hawaii. The state Legislature also passed a bill this year exempting private health care providers from general excise taxes for services to patients with Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE.
“Everything costs more in Hawaii,” said Schatz, “and so the federal reimbursement has to reflect that, and that should go for nursing home care and Medicare services in clinics. We just have to be on an equal footing. Otherwise, we will have Medicare but really Medicare in name only because Medicare without providers is really nothing.”
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaiʻi State Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday approved House Bill No. 1800 CD1, the state’s supplemental budget bill for the fiscal biennium 2025-2027.
The measure was finalized in a joint conference committee after both chambers initially passed different versions. The bill will now be up for final reading in both chambers before heading to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
The appropriations are as follows:
General Fund
Fiscal Year 2026: $10.42 billion
Fiscal Year 2027: $10.63 billion
All Means of Financing
Fiscal Year 2026: $19.77 billion
Fiscal Year 2027: $20.31 billion
“This budget uses cost-saving measures to help keep our promise to address the high cost of living and deliver meaningful tax reform to Hawaii’s citizens, especially our working- and middle-class families. At the same time, we are strengthening the State’s resilience through responsible long-term investments that promote regional economic development and environmental stewardship,” said Senator Donovan M. Dela Cruz, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means (Senate District 17 – Portion of Mililani, Mililani Mauka, portion of Waipi‘o Acres, Launani Valley, Wahiawā, Whitmore Village).
“The CIP budget reflects our commitment to protecting health and safety, preserving and modernizing state facilities, and investing in the critical infrastructure and public assets our communities rely on. These investments also support affordable housing, strengthen education, and advance economic development that will help sustain thriving communities across Hawai‘i,” stated Senator Sharon Y. Moriwaki, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means (Senate District 12 – Waikīkī, Ala Moana, Kaka‘ako, McCully).
“This budget reflects the House’s continued collaboration with the Administration and the Senate to take a balanced, responsible approach to preserving core government services and strengthening our safety net for Hawaiʻi’s residents—especially those who rely on these services as a lifeline,” said Representative Chris Todd, Chair of the House Committee on Finance (House District 3 – portions of Hilo, Keaukaha, Orchidlands Estate, Ainaloa, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Acres, and parts of Kurtistown and Kea‘au). “It prioritizes critical needs across housing, agriculture, natural resources, transportation, public safety, and economic development, setting a strong foundation as we respond to federal funding cuts that have impacted Hawaiʻi and required the state to urgently step up to support our residents.”
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The city has received nearly 1,600 damage reports so far after the back-to-back Kona low storms.
Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, provided the information Thursday while testifying in front of the Honolulu City Council Zoning & Planning Committee.
“It was very interesting just to understand, go house to house, to really see the damage, understand what people are going through,” said Apuna about validating the data with government employees.
The DPP provided the following data:
- 23 homes destroyed
- 260 homes need major repairs
- 32 temporarily inaccessible
- 436 homes sustained minor damage
- 442 homes sustained cosmetic damage, but are safe to live in
- 393 homes sustained no visible damage
Apuna explained that major damage means floodwaters reached more than 12 inches and covered a major outlet. Minor damage means floodwaters reached below 12 inches on a structure.
“With this information, FEMA was able to take that data and take it to the feds to determine the disaster declaration,” said Apuna.
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration went out into the community to validate the information.
“It was important that we went out right after the storms to assess flood lines within houses and to really understand the level of damage,” said Apuna.
She said close to 56 percent of those affected did not have flood insurance. “That’s where FEMA comes in. If you don’t have insurance, FEMA hopefully can cover that cost.”
Apuna testified that the DPP is providing residents with the tools, resources, and guidance needed to restore structures.
DPP also received 17 new permit applications from flood victims.
“Six are repair permits, two are alteration or addition, which we need to look at because they might not be necessarily Kona low-affected,” said Apuna.
Staff can waive permitting fees on a case-by-case basis.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Oswalt-Sanchez owns Tin Can Mailman, tucked into Honolulu’s Chinatown along Nuʻuanu Avenue—a shop where history doesn’t sit behind glass.
“Generations progress, and they age out; people don’t realize how special some of this older stuff is,” says Christopher Owalt-Sanchez. “It’s all little, tiny pieces that if we don’t talk about and we don’t share, it’s going to be forgotten.”
It’s stacked, shelved, and cataloged in the form of everyday artifacts: vintage canned food labels, old travel brochures, restaurant menus, and movie lobby cards that once helped sell an evening at the theater.
Inside, you’ll find lobby cards advertising films shot in Hawaiʻi or centered on island life—bright, nostalgic snapshots from a time when going to the movies was an event.
“This is back when movie theaters only had one screen, and the lobby was like a very posh, sort of, like a nicer hotel lobby,” Owalt-Sanchez explains. “So, they would utilize every little bit of space. So, these would have been in the lobby, and they would have been advertised—a movie that could have only played one night or a movie that was coming.”
The shop also holds travel brochures from United Airlines and Aloha Airlines, along with menus from restaurants that helped define eras of Waikīkī dining—but are now long gone. Names like Ciro’s, Lau Yee Chai, and Tops live on in print, offering a glimpse into what people ordered, what it cost, and what “a night out” looked like decades ago.
“You know, you go to a lot of places now, new places that are opening up—the menus are digital. You scan a QR code,” he says. “Here, we’ve actually got the menu. You can see what people were eating. You can see how much it costs and think, that’s really interesting—that you can get, you know, a double bourbon for 25 cents.”
And it’s not just paper ephemeral. Tin Can Mailman is also home to collectibles and curiosities that blur the line between souvenir and story—objects that spark memories for some and discoveries for others.
A Shop With a Story of Its Own
Even Tin Can Mailman’s name comes with history—and the business has traveled nearly as much as the items it sells.
“Well, the Tin Can Mailman originally opened in the 1970s in a town called Arcata, California. It was originally a bookstore,” Owalt-Sanchez says. After a divorce, the original owners split: “The lady kept her Tin Can Mailman in Arcata, and the man took his Tin Can Mailman to Kauaʻi, opening in the mid-1980s.”
Over the years, the store moved through roughly five locations on Kauaʻi. The owner sold it in 2003, died in 2005, and the shop eventually made its way to Oʻahu—relocating to Chinatown in November 2009. The Arcata store, Owalt-Sanchez adds, still exists today, but the two are no longer connected.
So why “Tin Can Mailman”?
“He named it after an island in Tonga, where they would take the mail and weld it shut in big tin biscuit cans or cookie cans,” he explains. “And the men would swim out to the passing ships and deliver the mail and get the new mail and then bring it back to the island. And those were the tin can mailmen.”
The practice dates back more than a century, he says—first as a necessity, later as a novelty, even evolving into what was known as “tin can canoe mail.”
Keeping the Details From Disappearing
Owalt-Sanchez says Tin Can Mailman has sourced items from all over the world.
“Tin Can Mailman has bought things as far away as Argentina and as close as across the street,” he says.
But for him, the point isn’t simply collecting—it’s connecting. He sees each label, menu, card, and brochure as a fragment of lived experience, especially as older generations fade and their everyday stories go with them.
“I like to tell you about what the industry was like in the 40s, what was selling in the 40s, what people were sending home,” he says. “Because that generation is, you know, slowly disappearing. And if we don’t talk about it, it’s just gone. That’s all, little pieces of love and little pieces of light that are just float away into the wind.”
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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