QUEST health plan deadline is May 15
Members of Hawaii QUEST and QUEST-Net health programs have until May 15 to decide if they want to stay with the present health plan or choose another one.They were sent Plan Change Packets on April 25 with a change form, new QUEST booklet and a QUEST newsletter.
Forms may be hand-delivered to a Med QUEST eligibility office or sent by mail, postmarked no later than May 15.
Enrollment in a new medical plan will take effect July 1.
Plans differ on each island. AlohaCare, HMSA and Kaiser are available on Oahu and Maui, while AlohaCare and HMSA are available on Hawaii and Kauai. Only HMSA is available on Molokai and Lanai.
Queen's Hawaii Care and Kapiolani HealthHawaii will no longer be available, and QUEST members in those plans must choose another one. Those who don't will be assigned automatically to one of the three participating health plans.
Members who want to stay with their current health plan don't have to do anything unless the plan is no longer available.
Each family member now may choose a health plan.
Those who do not receive a Plan Change form or who lose it may call 524-3370 on Oahu or toll-free from the neighbor islands at 1-800-316-8005, or visit their local Med QUEST office.
Hawaii QUEST provides coverage for medical, dental and mental health services through managed care plans for eligible residents. The Department of Human Services, Med QUEST Division, administers the program, funded by the state and Federal Health Care Financing Administration.
Federal grant to help isles clean and redevelop land
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the state a $2 million grant for the redevelopment of underused "brownfields."The term refers to land where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.
Two Oahu locations, the Kakaako Waterfront Park and the Home Depot store in Iwilei, are examples of brownfield sites that have been successfully redeveloped, the governor's office said.
The state Office of Planning developed the proposal for the coalition grant that provides seed money to capitalize the Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund.
Gov. Ben Cayetano said the fund will provide greater access to low-cost loans for public and private entities for the cleanup of contaminated brownfields.
Coalition members include the state, Honolulu and Maui County.
"This money will go a long way in helping us to maintain our pristine environment as we restore high priority sites," Cayetano said.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Managing Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com. Corrections and clarifications
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
2 people hurt after car strikes pole, catches fire
Two people were seriously injured when the car they were in left the road, struck a utility pole and caught on fire yesterday morning, the Big Island police and fire departments reported.Police said Vincenso Gilbert, 27, of Pahoa, was driving south on State Highway 130 when the single car crash occurred. A police officer found the vehicle fully engulfed in flames at 3:51 a.m.
After firefighters put out the fire, rescue workers removed passenger Shawna Thompson, 23, of Pahoa, from underneath the vehicle with extensive burns. Gilbert was found on the road. Both were treated at Hilo Hospital, then transported to Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu.
Thompson was listed in critical condition last night, and Gilbert was listed in guarded condition.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. A wet roadway could have played a factor in the accident, a police spokeswoman said.
Woman swept away by Maui stream drowns
A woman apparently drowned yesterday after being swept away in Ohea Stream, near the Seven Sacred Pools south of Hana, said Assistant Fire Chief Gordon Cordeiro.The Fire Department was called about the incident about 4:30 p.m. and retrieved the woman's body from the ocean. A male companion was rescued from the stream by helicopter.
HONOLULU
Man stabbed during argument at Ala Wai park
An 18-year-old man was reported in guarded condition yesterday at Queen's Medical Center after receiving a stab wound to the chest in an argument with three men at Ala Wai Neighborhood Park Friday night, police said.Police said the suspect, a 16-year-old male, took a knife from a backpack and chased the victim around the parking lot. He stabbed him, then fled on foot toward the Ala Wai Canal.
State Hospital patient recaptured by police
A Hawaii State Hospital patient who escaped about July 13 or 14 last year was arrested Friday night when he was involved in an argument at Kamehameha Highway and Kalaloa Street, police said.Police identified the man when they were sent to investigate the argument and arrested him for escape. Bail was set at $50,000.
Police search for man who commandeered car
Police are looking for a man who entered a woman's vehicle on Queen Emma Street between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday and ordered her to drive around the island for three hours.The man was described as being in his 20s, 5-foot-10 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds. He wore a white mask, light colored polo shirt, blue shorts and running shoes, police said.
The suspect got out of the car in Waipahu and fled and the woman, about 25 years old, called police, according to the report.
NORTH SHORE
Police nab 4 men who allegedly stole, crashed car
Police arrested four men on suspicion of auto theft yesterday after a car fled from the scene of a reported fight and police found it crashed into a house in Waialua.Police said the 2002 Dodge Stratus "accelerated hard away" when officers arrived at the Waialua Beach area around 4:45 a.m.
A check of the license found the car was reported stolen. Police searching in the direction it had fled found the car crashed near Thomson Corner at Kaukonahua Road and Farrington Highway.
The four suspects were found in the area. They were a 30-year-old with no local address, a 19-year-old from Whitmore Village, a 21-year-old from Wahiawa and a 17-year-old from Waialua.
