‘Obamacare’ not so abominable for Hawaii’s Medicare beneficiaries

Lots of folks are mad at President Obama these days, but on the anniversary of the federal health care reform act, the nonprofit Families USA leaped to his defense.

The group did the state-by-state numbers on who already benefits from the law. The largest group: Medicare beneficiaries who now have access to free preventive health. In Hawaii, that’s an estimated 204,000 people.

Children with pre-existing conditions and small businesses with a tax credit are also in the mix, but it’s the seniors and the uninsured kids now covered by their parents’ health plans — 3.4 million nationally, 8,700 locally — that surely will capture the White House spotlight. They can vote in 2012.

Lucky you live Hawaii, except for the high cost of online shopping

It should come as no surprise that Hawaii is the worst state in the country for online shoppers.

An analysis by extrabux.com, a price-comparison website, determined that while Hawaii residents pay a relatively small 4.25 percent of the price for the item in general excise tax, they pay an average of $19.17 for shipping, which takes 4.57 days. Delaware, with its state motto of “It’s good being first,” is the friendliest to shoppers, costing an average of $4.07 for shipping, taking only 2.74 days and costing no tax at all.

Lots of folks are mad at President Obama these days, but on the anniversary of the federal health care reform act, the nonprofit Families USA leaped to his defense.

The group did the state-by-state numbers on who already benefits from the law. The largest group: Medicare beneficiaries who now have access to free preventive health. In Hawaii, that’s an estimated 204,000.

Children with pre-existing conditions and small businesses with a tax credit are also in the mix, but it’s the seniors and the uninsured kids now covered by their parents’ health plan — 3.4 million nationally, 8,700 locally — that surely will capture the White House spotlight. They can vote in 2012.