Letter: HMSA’s payment plan hurts doctors, patients

HMSA will hold a gala extravaganza today at the Waikiki Prince Hotel to celebrate its highly profitable Payment Transformation Program, in which the Family Plan premium rates are now almost a person’s salary and doctors are paid a flat rate as low as $18 per patient per month, regardless of the number of office visits that patient may make for that month.

This celebration is an appalling insult to the struggling families wanting something good for their kids, and to the many doctors who struggle financially trying to do their very best to make Hawaii a healthier place to live but need to borrow money to meet their escalating monthly expenses.

Where is the state insurance commissioner? The answer: The commissioner is paralyzed by some very powerful politicians who consistently protect HMSA in the state House and Senate. In Hawaii, money talks. But who talks for the patients?

Limiting doctors from providing 2019-level of medical care will compromise patient care. HMSA should own up, cancel this arrogant event, stop spending other peoples’ money on themselves, and use this money to benefit the patient.

Franklin Young

Manoa

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