Consumers and taxpayers are eyeing two important deadlines for the Hawaii Health Connector, the insurance marketplace established by the state Legislature in 2011 to provide access to health policies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

March 31 is the deadline for individuals and families to enroll in a health plan to avoid tax penalties and/or be eligible to receive tax subsidies. This is an important date for up to 100,000 uninsured residents in the islands, as many as half of whom may qualify for coverage under the expanded Medicaid program.

For a much larger group of Hawaii taxpayers, another critical date is Jan. 1, 2015. That’s when federal funds for the Health Connector will likely dry up, requiring the Connector to pay for its operations from other sources of revenue. The best estimate for the amount of funding needed to sustain Connector operations beyond this year is $15 million annually.

Whether state taxpayers will be on the hook to cover Connector expenses beyond the current year, and how future revenues may be generated, are topics of heated debate in the current Legislature. Potential solutions range from making the Health Connector a state agency to assessing fees on all health insurance plans sold both in and outside the exchange.

AARP Hawaii holds firm to the position that taxpayers must not be held responsible for footing the bill until the Connector provides the Legislature with an acceptable and detailed sustainability plan. This plan is critical to lawmakers’ ability to make an informed decision. The plan should focus on three critical elements: 1) What the Connector’s expenses are; 2) How it plans to generate revenue going forward; and 3) How it intends to increase enrollment in health plans.

Without a detailed accounting of expenses and revenues, making the Connector a state agency would be like writing a blank check.

The sustainability challenge facing the Hawaii Health Connector — and state legislators themselves — stems from the Connector’s establishment as a private, nonprofit organization. It is the only exchange in the nation structured this way. As such, it has not been subject to Hawaii sunshine laws, and has permitted Connector board members, including representatives of the health insurers themselves, to conduct business beyond the public view.

AARP Hawaii has long protested this lack of transparency and accountability, and now the proverbial chickens are coming home to roost.

Hawaii consumers deserve a more open and accessible Connector as work shifts to the core mission of locating and enrolling the thousands of people who have no health insurance, ensuring that these people get the financial support to which they are entitled.

The Hawaii Health Connector must immediately make public its financial sustainability plan. Its directors must take a hard look at operations over the next three-to-five years, minimize expenses and identify realistic sources of revenue.

Operating expenses must be subject to legislative scrutiny: staffing levels, salaries, benefits, lease rental, travel, contracted services — everything.

Connector sustainability is non-negotiable. It has been a requirement of the ACA from the beginning and is now a major concern of the Legislature as it ponders the Connector’s future from functional and financial perspectives.

Sadly, the Connector board has failed to live up to its obligations to the people of Hawaii.

Now, it’s up to the Legislature to ask the hard questions to come to the right decisions. Hawaii taxpayers deserve nothing less.

As the adage says, "There’s never time to do it right, but there’s always time to do it over."

Let’s get the Connector right this time.