Current Healthcare Topics in Hawaii with Senator Josh Green & Reg Baker

Senator Josh Green and I discuss Obamacare and how it will change in Hawaii under Trump.  Plus other Healthcare issues in Hawaii

Commerce and the Community with Unyong Nakata

Business in Hawaii Show with Reg Baker: We had a very dynamic guest, Unyong Nakata, Senior Director of Development at the Shidler School of Business with the University of Hawaii and the Chair-elect of the Hawaii Chamber Young Professionals.  What a powerful message she has for both places

Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker and Hawaii's Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED&T)

This week I interview Hawaii’s Department of Business and
Economic Development and Tourism.  This
is truly a state run operation that is worth its weight in gold!!  DBED does so much to promote business in
Hawaii and create opportunity and jobs. 
A well-kept secret for sure.

The Cannabis Economy and Tax Reform - A Quarterly Commentary with Steve ...

Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker - First Quarterly Commentary on Medical Marijuana and Tax Reform under the Trump Administration. 

Today's Multigenerational Motivators - Jan Kaeo and Thomas Jones

This week’s Business in Hawaii Show with Reg Baker discusses managing multiple generations with
Jan Kaeo of Dale Carnegie Training and Tom Jones of Gyotaku Restaurant
group. 

Overcoming Challenges for Women Owned Businesses in Healthcare

Aloha!!



This week I talked with Mylene Reyes about her business supplying medical equipment to patients at the VA and health Insurance members.  It is a tough business with razor-thin margins but she has succeeded and made it work for over 10 years.  What an amazing success story!

OHA Issues and Elections with Dr. Kelii Akina

Keli'i Akina is running for Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) Trustee at Large.  Change is needed and Mr. Akina can make that change happen.  All voters can and should vote for OHA Trustees.  OHA has the potential to make some very positive changes in Hawaii. Mr. Akina explains why this vote is so important to Hawaii, Hawaiians and all citizens who call Hawaii their home.

The Bank of Hawaii Transformation - Private Banking and Professional Services Group

Here is this week’s Business in Hawaii Show featuring the
Bank of Hawaii and the Private Banking Professional Services Group.  We discuss the transformation of the Bank of
Hawaii to a much more customer focused and technology based bank.  As a side note – My son, Robert Baker, is
very involved with the technology portion of the transformation since joining
the Bank of Hawaii in their IT Division in 2015.

What is a PEO and How Does it Work? VantaggioHR Hawaii

Payroll - what a pain!  Here is the solution.  Payroll and HR off your to do list..

How UOPX Supports Business - Rising with the University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix is the perfect solution for working adults wanting to finish their business degree or get started.  Plus they are active with business conferences and other activities.  Please check it out!

Hawaii's Media Industry - Under the Umbrella of Element Media

Last week’s episode about the media industry in Hawaii.  Listen as Naomi Hazelton-Giambrone, Founder of
Element Media, describes her rise to one of the more successful privately owned
media businesses in Hawaii.  

The P's of Success

I suppose many
"mature" professionals have ambitions of writing a book.  I am
no exception. Over the years I have learned and seen many ways to be
successful.  For fun, I have tried to make a list of what I have learned
using the letter "P" as the first letter of the lesson learned and
the chapter title of my book.  I discuss some of those "P" in
this video.

Are you Over-Insured? How to Save Money on Insurance!

Reg Baker and Darren Matsuda discuss business insurance and the risks it
covers and how to save some money on coverage

The Perfect Match: HI Tech Support and Chamber Young Professionals

Stan Lau and I had a great conversation about Hi Tech in Hawaii and his new role as Chairman of the Hawaii Chamber YP Program.  Please enjoy!

Plaza Club Services for Success

The Plaza Club is one of the best deals in Hawaii.  Great venue for meetings and events.  And the staff is exceptional!!

Hawaii's Building Industry Success Stories

My current Business in Hawaii show is about the building industry in
Hawaii and one of the most successful builders. 
National award winner and just another example of how Hawaii can compete
on a national level with anyone

SBA National Update from Washington DC - Deputy National Ombudsman Yolan...

Special edition of Business in Hawaii - First ever regulatory roundtable in Hawaii with Office of National Ombudsman (ONB) from Washington DC.  The SBA Deputy Director of ONB is my guest on this special edition.  It is always amazing to me how much the SBA does to support the SMB community here in Hawaii and throughout the US.

Business in Hawaii - The Raw Dog Story

Attention
all DOG LOVERS!!  This Business in Hawaii
episode is an amazing story of how a simple diet change can make a significant
improvement in your dog’s life.  Locally
manufactured and distributed, this raw dog product is simply amazing.

Small Business Advocacy - Yvonne Lee and Reg Baker

Great update of the SBA and Hawaii Chambers roundtable on the food industry plus an SBA update on current activities around the state of Hawaii.

The Power of Being LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the most popular and powerful business
networking sites in the world.  This
week’s interview is all about LinkedIn, what makes it so powerful and what does
the recent purchase of LinkedIn by Microsoft mean.

Teaching Business in Island Schools - Junior Achievement - Erin Matsunag...

Junior Achievement Hawaii is a Powerful Positive Influence in our Schools.  This Business in Hawaii interview explains why.



  

The Evolution of Obamacare

By - Reg Baker, Host of Business in Hawaii for Think Tech Hawaii

Ever since I was the COO and CFO for HMAA, one of Hawaii’s largest health insurance companies, I have been following the ACA aka Obamacare.

It was widely accepted in the healthcare industry that we did not need nor want the ACA.  This was especially true in Hawaii due to the Prepaid Healthcare act that was passed over 25 years ago.  Many felt that the ACA was just another step in the direction of nationalizing the healthcare industry, which has been proven to be a failure in every country that ever attempted nationalized healthcare. 

Flash forward to today and we find many of those earlier concerns are coming true.  Healthcare premiums continue to increase at double digit rates.  California just announced on Tuesday another 13% increase in premiums.  Hawaii has experienced similar rate increases and very large loses by our local medical insurance companies.  We already lost one local medical insurance company, Family Health, and the mainland has seen record high failures and consolidations.

The only way for smaller medial insurance companies to survive under the ACA is to merge with larger companies to obtain economies of scale and larger risk pools of customers.  This has been happening at an alarming rate and has caught the attention of the US Department of Justice.  This week, the DOJ announced they will be cracking down on these medical insurance mergers and acquisitions claiming that they are unacceptable.    

The US Healthcare industry was one of the best in the world.  We lead the world in setting the bar very high for quality of care, access to care, innovation, research and education.  It is so sad and very scary to see how the ACA has disrupted the best health care system in the world to one that is fighting to survive with record bankruptcies, record levels of mergers and consolidations resulting in dwindling medical insurance companies, physicians retiring faster than we can replace them because of the challenges current providers face and constant regulatory interference. 

If the plan of Obamacare, like many projected, was to create a single payer system, which is another word for nationalized healthcare, then we are clearly moving in that very scary direction.  Let’s hope that it is not too late to save the US healthcare system that was once the best the world had ever seen. 

A Look at Risky LLC's with Reg Baker and Guest Jeff Willard

Be careful when you shut down your business.  If it is an LLC there are risks.  Watch this and be warned!

Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker and Guest Jennifer Hee

This weeks Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker and Guest Jennifer Hee.  A great Millennial success story!!  We discuss the YP Program at the Hawaii Chamber and the Salvation Army.

Vietnamese Success Story!!

Vietnamese Success Story!! From the fall of Saigon to Joys and Toy's and now The Pig and the Lady in Chinatown.

Surfing in Hawaii Goes High Tech - AKUshaper - Jimmy Freese

Jimmy Freese of AKUShaper has a dominate presence in the Surfing industry in the world!  He and his CAD based shaping machines produce about 40% of the surfboards worldwide.

Healthcare Costs in Hawaii

Senator/Dr. Josh Green and Reg Baker discuss healthcare in Hawaii and some national trends. One very timely discuss is why healthcare costs so much. Dr. Green and Reg touch on a variety of healthcare topics including costs, regulations, Obamacare (ACA) and much more.

Growing Your Business - Reg Baker's 5-P's to Sucess

Business Legislation in Hawaii with Rep. Andria Tupola

This week’s Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker was a
fascinating discussion with Andria Tupola. A freshman legislator with lots of
great ideas! 

Pathway to 40 Under 40 Award

Reg Baker and Kyle Okamura discuss
the road Kyle followed that lead to the Forty under Forty award.  Like
most success stories, it all boils down to networking and doing a good job.

A Family Business Success Story with Adrian Hong

Here is the current weeks Business in Hawaii link.  Adrian Hong shares his success story of being
a CPA, setting national accounting standards to managing the largest plastic
bag company in Hawaii.  Just another
example of how success can be achieved in Hawaii in very unusual ways. 

   

IRS Service Levels to Continue Decline!

Due to heavy workload (like the ACA and late tax changes/extensions by Congress) and a significantly reduced budget the IRS will be cutting back on service levels again.  See the National Taxpayer Advocate annual report below.

National Tax Advocate's report criticizes IRS's planned reduction in taxpayers' service.

In her 2015 annual report to Congress, National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Nina Olson expresses concern that IRS may be on the verge of dramatically scaling back telephone and face-to-face service that it has historically provided to assist the nation's 150 million individual taxpayers and 11 million business entities comply with their tax obligations. In particular, she calls for IRS to release its “Future State” plan documents, provide additional detail about its anticipated impact on taxpayer service operations, and solicit public comments, and recommends that Congress conduct oversight hearings on IRS's plan. IR 2016-1

Tax & Internet Security Warning

Tax season is just beginning and already the bad guys are trying to scam and trick people into giving access to their computers and private financial data. 

I just received an email from my “CPA” telling me that my K-1 tax form is ready for download.  I just need to click on the link and get it for my tax return preparation process.  It looks very legit but I did not recognize the sender and I do not have a CPA (I do my own taxes).  Of course I deleted it.  Clicking on the link could have allowed the sender to download a program giving them hidden access to my computer and everything on it.  Or they could have high jacked my computer and forced me to pay a “fee” to release it back to me. 

The IRS sends out warnings about these scams periodically.  Taxpayers have received emails supposedly from the IRS about a tax document or refund that the IRS wants to send them.  Do not fall for this trick!  The IRS does not send unsolicited emails like these to taxpayers.  Many individuals get worried when the receive an IRS email and want to respond quickly and resolve the situation.  The bad guys know this and try to take advantage of this. 

The next few months there will be an increased amount of email related to taxes that are both legit and a scam.  Be very careful and if in doubt delete it.  Open only those emails and links that you are expecting and are familiar with.  And even then be cautious.  Confirm with your tax preparer to ensure that they did indeed send you the email. 

Finally, we have all received email from our credit card companies or banks telling of a possible unauthorized charge and asking to click on a link to confirm.  Or to update our profile information.  Or unlock our account.  Do not follow the link; it is most likely a scam.  If concerned, then open your internet browser and log on the way you would normally and check it out. 

Bottom line: Be very skeptical of emails with links. 

 

By:  Reg Baker, CPA PFS

Nationally recognized SMB Advisor and

Wealth Management Specialist based in Honolulu