Queen’s to pay $1 million to settle Medicare suit

Queen’s Medical Center will pay $1.05 million as its share of a $34 million settlement involving overbilling of Medicare.

Queen’s is included among 55 hospitals in 21 states involved in the settlement, revolving around overcharges for a back procedure. The hospitals are alleged to have overcharged for kypholasty, using a fraudulent billing scheme, according to Wash., D.C.-based law firm Phillips & Cohen LLP.

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure used to correct some spinal compression fractures that often result from osteoporosis. A balloon device pumps up the compressed vertebra, and then bone cement is injected into the cavity. Patients usually fully recover within a few hours, but Medicare was billed for expensive inpatient stays, the law firm said.

Matson drops fuel surcharge to 34.5%

The cost to ship goods to Hawaii will become a bit less expensive Sunday when Matson Inc. reduces its fuel surcharge slightly.

Matson announced Tuesday that it will lower its fuel surcharge by 2 percentage points, to 34.5 percent from 36.5 percent, because bunker fuel prices have eased.

It is Matson’s third consecutive fuel surcharge decrease, following 3.5-percentage-point drops in March and April.

For most customers the cost to ship a container will decrease by $45 to $80, according to Dave Hoppes, Matson’s senior vice president of ocean services.

The fuel surcharge rate is adjusted depending on bunker fuel prices, and has fluctuated between 26.5 percent and 47.5 percent through the last two years.

The company’s practice is to reduce the rate as soon as possible after a significant and sustained change in fuel cost, and give 30-day advance notice of planned increases.

Barbers Point developer hires manager

Commercial real estate firm CBRE has been retained to help developer Hunt Cos. manage and lease 538 acres at Kalaeloa in West Oahu.

Texas-based Hunt acquired the land that was formerly part of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station from the Navy in 2009, a decade after the 3,700-acre military base was closed.

The property includes 600,000 square feet of buildings, some of which are leased to businesses including Podium Raceway, Tamura’s Market and American Machinery.

Hunt plans to redevelop much of its property with 4,000 homes and 3.3 million square feet of industrial, commercial and retail space through the next 20 years. An initial phase includes affordable rental apartments converted from former military barracks, a retail marketplace and a light industrial park.

Home sales show robust increase

WASHINGTON >> U.S. home prices jumped 12.2 percent in May from a year ago, the most in seven years. The increase suggests the housing recovery is strengthening.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday that prices for houses rose from a year ago in 48 states. They fell only in Dela­ware and Ala­bama. All but three of the 100 largest cities reported price gains.

Prices rose 26 percent in Nevada to lead all states. That was followed by California (20.2 percent), Arizona (16.9 percent), Hawaii (16.1 percent) and Oregon (15.5 percent).

CoreLogic also says prices rose 2.6 percent in May from April, the 15th straight month-over-month increase.

Steady hiring and low mortgage rates have encouraged more Americans to buy houses. Greater demand, a limited number of homes for sale and fewer foreclosures have pushed prices higher.

Prices are still 20 percent below the peak reached in April 2006, according to CoreLogic.

Automakers post biggest gains in 6 years

DETROIT >> The nation’s automakers continued to make gains in June, reporting the strongest performance in six years as the improving economy supported a continued uptick in sales.

The Ford Motor Co. led the growth, reporting a 13 percent increase for its Ford and Lincoln brands.

General Motors reported gains of 6 percent, and the Chrysler Group of 8 percent.

Sales for the Nissan Motor Co. rose 13 percent, the automaker’s best June sales month ever in the United States. The Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, reported a sales gain of 9.8 percent. Volks­wa­gen was the only major automaker to report a decline in June sales of 3 percent.

Overall, June showed the best performance in at least six years for Ford and Chrysler and the best month for GM since September 2008 when Lehman Bros. filed for bankruptcy.

ON THE MOVE

Sharon Gi has joined Kame­ha­meha Schools’ commercial real estate division as development manager. Previously, Gi served as an assistant project manager for the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles where she helped to oversee three redevelopment project areas in the downtown region.

Palama Settlement has named Wendy Abe executive director for the organization. Her primary responsibilities will be to ensure that the mission of Palama Settlement is fulfilled through its programs and day-to-day operations. Abe is currently president of the Japa­nese Women’s Society Foundation.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii said David Tumilo­wicz has joined the state’s largest integrated health care organization as director, broker relations and client engagement. Most recently, Tumilo­wicz served as vice president for strategy and business development at PacificBasin Communications and publisher of the organization’s Hawaii Business magazine.