State locking out non-union contractors

Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s new Project Labor Agreement will allow only union-contracting businesses to bid on state jobs.

He has just locked out a great number of local businesses, including my own family’s business, that rely on state construction jobs for their businesses to thrive.

Living in Hawaii should not mean that you have to join a union to be allowed the benefit of fairly bidding on work for local workers. We pay state taxes just like all other businesses and should be allowed the benefit of the bidding process as well.

There are those outside the unions who need the work, too. Why are we being excluded? It seems undemocratic to suggest that only union companies can get a chance to bid.

How is this action justified, as the law does not require one to become unionized? We are locally owned and our money stays in Hawaii. Yet we will not have the same status that the union has to bid.

Cindy Matsumoto
Waipahu

Physician dispensing fuels black market

Hurray for the Star-Advertiser’s "Same pill, bigger bill" story (Star-Advertiser, May 20).

However, it revealed only the tip of the iceberg. The problem is really much worse than the letter suggests.

Yes, there are outrageous markups by some physicians, but it’s not just one prescription per patient. Often the bills are several thousand dollars per month for a cocktail of multiple unneeded medications.

But it’s far worse than just money. Many of these prescriptions are for unneeded powerful narcotic medications that hook the worker. In many cases, so many narcotics are prescribed that the patients do not take them and they end up on the black market, worsening Hawaii’s drug culture.

The article correctly says that doctors cannot afford to treat workers’ compensation patients without add-ons. However, there is a small group of unethical physicians who use this loophole to unjustly enrich themselves.

The real solution to the workers’ compensation treatment problem is higher, more reasonable fees to honest physicians so workers can get quality care, eliminate the incentives for unethical physicians and strengthen the independent review process.

Chet Nierenberg
Past president, Academy of Independent Medical Examiners Hawaii

‘Cap bill’ would hurt doctors and patients

The article "Same pill, bigger bill" unfortunately creates some inaccurate impressions about dispensing physicians. Such is the unintended consequence of oversimplifying a complicated but important role performed by workers’ compensation doctors who treat injured workers.

Efforts under way in Hawaii to ban physician dispensing could result in a delay of care for injured workers while driving many physicians out of business.

We believe there is nothing more important than protecting the relationship between a physician and a patient. Doctors will tell you patients who get their medications immediately have better outcomes and shorter recovery times.

The "cap bill" was proposed by insurers fighting to protect profits, which is why I urge Hawaii lawmakers not to consider the bill in the future.

Todd Wilder
Executive director, Americans for Patients Rights, Tallahassee, Fla.

Release legal opinion on Kailua Beach Park

The administration of Mayor Peter Carlisle has turned out to be a major cause of the commercial tsunami at Kailua Beach Park, and one of the primary obstacles to a resolution.

The Honolulu County Code has long prohibited the use of public parks and beaches for commercial activities without a permit. For many months, pleas to the city and its Department of Parks and Recreation to address this problem under their existing authority went unheeded. Those who thought they could make a dollar using the beach park were free to do as they pleased.

When people concerned with preserving this public resource were forced to pursue an outright ban, the previously stagnant parks department suddenly started arguing for the regulation it had long failed to pursue.

The Office of Corporation Counsel then was whistled up to send a legal opinion to the City Council challenging the propriety of Bill 11, which resulted in its deferral.

The Council should release the legal opinion to the public, so these concerns can be addressed in public debate and we can work together openly to preserve the benefits of Kailua Beach Park for our residents and visitors.

Mark Gallagher
Kailua

Motorcyclists at least should wear a helmet

I’ve read with interest the remarks concerning biker safety ("Bikers have a lot to worry about," Star-Advertiser, Letters, May 19).

Nowhere in the story is there one word about taking responsibility for their own safety by wearing a helmet.

I’m a motorcyclist and ride almost every day, but would never tempt fate by going into Honolulu traffic without wearing the most obvious safety item to prevent injury on the road. Wear a helmet every time you ride!

Ed Schneider
Waikiki

High gas prices due to corporate greed

Over the past three weeks, mainland gas prices have decreased by about 15 cents a gallon. In Hilo, prices have fallen about 4 cents a gallon. Of course, this is no big surprise, and there is nothing we can do about it.

However, maybe our governor could use the power of the bully pulpit and challenge Tesoro and Chevron to start lowering pump prices. Political persuasion is real power, especially when it is targeted at those who have a direct impact on the local economy.

It is clear that when mainland gas prices go up, so do ours — in a hurry — but the inverse is not true. We are still saddled with weeks-old gas prices that do not reflect the true value of the product. What’s reflected is corporate greed and an opportunity to make excessive profits off a very fragile economy.

Richard Dinges
Hilo

Native Hawaiians deserve sovereignty

Why is it so hard for America to allow the Akaka Bill to pass and allow the Native Hawaiian people to be self-governing as they were before the overthrow?

I’m not Hawaiian nor am I a mainlander but I do know what July 4, 1776, stands for.

The Hawaiian people want their sovereignty just as much as the American colonialists wanted their independence from Great Britain, but they want to achieve it in a peaceful manner.

Ron Garcia
Ewa Beach