Tax on Health Care (Talking Tax)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The host for this show is Jay Fidell. The guest is Tom Yamachika.
The physician shortage in Hawaii, although highlighted by the pandemic, has been years in the making. Its causes include a low Medicare reimbursement rate, General Excise Tax (GET) applying to medical practices, and our sky-high cost of living. Medicare will only reimburse medical work at “reasonable charges” and will not reimburse the doctors for the GET they have to pay. Doctors usually wind up absorbing the tax rather than attempting to surcharge their patients for it, meaning they have to account for yet another expense amidst Hawaii’s high cost of everything. A bill now being considered at the Legislature shines a spotlight on hospitals and caregivers who try to deal with GET and aren’t doing a great job of it.
The ThinkTech YouTube Playlist for this show is https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQpkwcNJny6lmEllOKP493URXssFT4N7G
Please visit our ThinkTech website at https://thinktechhawaii.com and see our Think Tech Advisories at https://thinktechadvisories.blogspot.com.
ThinkTech Hawaii streams live on the Internet from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Hawaii time most weekdays, then we stream our earlier shows all night long. Check us out any time for great content and great community.
Our vision is to be a leader in shaping a more vital and thriving Hawaii as the foundation for future generations. Our mission is to be the leading digital media platform raising public awareness and promoting civic engagement in Hawaii.