Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
HAWAII
Kaiser will keep Kauai coverage
Kaiser Permanente has reversed an earlier decision to cease offering medical insurance coverage on Kauai after customers raised concerns that the move would leave Garden Isle residents with less choice.Kaiser changed its mind after the state's Employer Union Trust Fund asked it to stay, said Chris Pablo, Kaiser's director of public, government and community affairs.
Most of Kaiser's Kauai customers are state and county employees whose health coverage comes under the state fund, which last year replaced the State Health Fund.
Kaiser Permanente does not have a physical presence on the island and had blamed the resulting cost of contracting services there for its decision to pull out, announced in February.
Insurance for commercial employer groups would have ended Dec. 31. State and county employees, whose plan coverage begins July 1, also would have been affected.
As part of the state health fund contract, participating insurers had been required to provide statewide coverage, but that requirement has been dropped.
Pablo said the pullout would have left Kauai customers without a health maintenance organization.
The insurer had provided coverage under a contractual arrangement with Kauai Medical Group for physician services and Wilcox Hospital for in-hospital services.
Pablo said Kaiser was in the process of building up a network of physicians for Kaiser-covered customers.
Chamber will fund health projects
The Public Health Fund committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii is accepting grant applications for health-related projects.Projects grants are given for projects involving public health education and research for which funds are not available from other sources.
Preference will be given to projects that are collaborative. Applicants must be nonprofit organizations operating on Oahu in public health-related activities.
Past grants have been awarded for work in AIDS education, mental health programs and screening for cholesterol and diabetes.
The deadline for applications is Dec. 15.
For more information, call the chamber at 545-4300 or email phf@cochawaii.org.
NATION
Delta gets financing from GE, Amex
ATLANTA » Delta Air Lines got another key financial lifeline in the form of $500 million in additional financing Monday from General Electric and American Express.The commitment from GE Commercial Finance follows a week in which Delta made significant progress in averting a trip through bankruptcy court, including getting a tentative agreement on $1 billion in concessions from pilots.
Along with other recent deals to defer debt or generate cash through asset sales or new borrowing, Delta has lined up agreements to reverse much of the cash drain from its bruising losses this year.
However, like the other agreements, GE's offer comes with almost as many strings as letters in the alphabet, including several designed to ensure Delta completes its concession deals with pilots and other creditors before it gets a new cash injection.
