A town hall-style meeting on protecting Medicare benefits is scheduled for Friday with U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa.
The “Protect Medicare” discussion is sponsored by AARP Hawaii and will explore proposals in Congress that could affect Medicare or increase health care costs. It is part of a nationwide AARP campaign against a premium support, or voucher, system that the organization says would eliminate “a guaranteed level of coverage and shift costs to people on Medicare.”
“We are also fighting what we call an ‘age tax,’ a proposed unfair penalty on older adults that would allow insurance companies to charge 50- to 64-year-olds as much as five times more than what everyone else pays for the same health coverage. If the age tax bill passes, the average 60-year-old could pay over $3,000 more a year,” AARP Hawaii said in a news release.
Hanabusa will provide an update on the proposals, and state Sen. Les Ihara and state Rep. Gregg Takayama will provide an update on state legislation affecting seniors.
The free event is from 10:30 a.m. until noon on Friday at Harris United Methodist Church, 20 S. Vineyard Blvd. RSVP at 877-926-8300 or online at aarp.cvent.com/townhall2-24.
HAWAII ISLAND
Cost issues prompt Mayor Kim to cancel composting contract
Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim has moved to end a contract with Hawaiian Earth Recycling regarding the county’s organic waste diversion program.
A Friday statement from the mayor’s office said the service agreement for the program will be terminated June 30, The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.
Kim said he supports composting and its role on the Big Island but cited cost as a reason to end the contract.
“The two areas of concern were the financial commitments of the county and the limited nature of the contract regarding composting,” Kim said.
Earlier this month Kim discussed scrapping plans to build a $10.3 million composting facility laid out in last year’s agreement.
The facility would have processed 28,000 tons of organic waste in its first year of operation and reached 35,000 tons by the 10th year, according to the project’s draft environmental assessment.
Under the contract, the county is also required to pay for the production of mulch from green waste and more nutrient-rich compost made from food scraps and other organic sources.
The county is paying about $85 or $100 per ton, depending on where the mulch is produced, up from about $42 and $45 per ton last year. The county has paid $1.7 million for mulching operations since the fiscal year began July 1.
Kim has instructed the county Environmental Management Department to develop a plan to have mulching operations continue with a new contract.
“The goal is to have a seamless operational transfer of the very successful mulching operation,” said William Kucharski, the department’s director.
The mayor wants to ensure there is a significant reduction in waste disposal and an increase in overall recycling and material use, Kucharski said.
