Prepare now for higher water and sewer rates

Oahu residents are in for a double whammy as sewer and water rates rise next week.

We knew the rate hikes were coming — the City Council and Board of Water Supply, respectively, approved a series of annual increases — but they’re still going to hurt.

These services are must-haves, not luxuries that are easy to excise from the family budget. Pinching pennies here can mean shorter showers, arid lawns and other conservation measures.

Small insurers don’t connect with Connector

The case against the Hawaii Health Connector, the agency and website that serves as a consumer’s one-stop shop for health insurance, continues to mount.

The latest salvo comes from Family Health Hawaii, Hawaii Medical Assurance Association and UHA (University Health Alliance), the state’s small insurers who have decided against jumping in the carrier pool.

They point to, among other things, the experience of the big players, HMSA and Kaiser, who have cited the exchange as the cause of rising costs.

Of course, recent legislative reforms have taken the carriers’ representatives off the Connector’s voting board, so that may have generated some hard feelings, too.