PUBLIC OPTION DIFFERS FROM FEDERAL PLAN

Recent letters (Rick Lloyd, June 19 and Russell Noguchi, June 22) compared the proposed "public option" to the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) for federal employees and retirees, U.S. Congress persons included. I believe this to be an apples and oranges comparison. As I understand it, the proposed public option will consist of a U.S. government subsidized entity, which would guarantee payment of medical expenses for individuals who cannot or will not pay for themselves.

The FEHBP is administered by a government agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), but the similarity ends there. Some of the largest health insurance companies, such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, etc., and here in Hawai'i, HMSA and Kaiser, negotiate with OPM to participate in the FEHBP. Premiums are agreed to by OPM and the individual companies. The government and enrollees each pay a share. Premium costs to enrollees depend on the coverage selected but are far less than the $700 a month quoted. Enrollee premiums for self only coverage are less than $94 and $101 per month from HMSA and Kaiser, respectively, while self and family coverage is less than $210 and $217 per month from HMSA and Kaiser, respectively. Enrollees may change providers during annual open seasons.

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) historically has opposed programs that would diminish the FEHBP.

Henry J. Magee | President-elect, NARFE, Hawai'i State Federation of Chapters

FURLOUGHS

GOVERNOR'S DECISION BETTER THAN LAYOFFS

Once again, another letter writer (Wray Jose, Letters June 26) misses the entire point of furloughs and the reason behind them. Our government does not have the income to continue with its current level of spending.

In any business, when income goes down, the first expense that is usually reduced is labor because it makes up the largest percentage of a company's expenses. Fixed expenses like rent cannot be lowered, but labor can always be reduced. Most local businesses reduced their personnel months ago when the downturn began.

Our governor attempted to reduce all other operating expenses before she made any attempts to reduce labor costs, even though it makes up 70 percent of the state's budget. It is inevitable that some cuts need to be made to labor when the state no longer has the money to spend. In the retail sector, when sales decline, it is common for management to reduce an employees' work week by one day. Once sales return to normal levels, the hours are reinstated.

Raising taxes should not even be an option. Government needs to run within its budget. If income levels are down, then spending needs to be decreased. When income levels rise, then so can spending.

Amy Sato | Kane'ohe

BEACH PARKING

PARKING METERS MAY HELP OVERCROWDING

The parking situation at Ala Moana Beach Park has become a crisis. It has become so crowded that the police have created special no-parking zones to pull over drivers for ticketing.

My friends and I have arrived at Ala Moana Park at 8:30 a.m. to find all the spaces filled and no one on the beach.

Meanwhile we watch parkers make their way to their jobs at Ward and Ala Moana Centers.

Employers at these shopping malls should provide parking for their employees and leave the spaces at Ala Moana Park for beachgoers.

We hope that parking meters will not have to be instituted at Ala Moana, but if Ward and Ala Moana Center employers don't step up, it may be the only solution.

Wendell W. Faria | Honolulu

ENERGY

WE NEED TO CAP CARBON POLLUTION

Capping carbon pollution will ignite the transition to clean energy, end our dependence on dirty fossil fuels, and put America on a path toward economic recovery by creating tens of thousands of good-paying American jobs that can't be shipped overseas.

Consumers and businesses will benefit from stable energy prices, and with greater energy efficiency, we can get more from the energy we have, which will mean lower electricity bills.

Now is the time for action. The economy can't wait. The climate crisis can't wait.

Nai'a Newlight | Kihei, Maui

SUPERFERRY

STATE HAS A CHANCE TO REVIVE SERVICE

Is it deja vu? Is it possible that the same state and Legislature that could have saved this wonderful, high-tech interisland transportation system might have a chance to restore it to serve our people, businesses and our islands?

How is it possible that a state with its major islands separated by large expanses of water has not taken advantage of this state-of-the-art transportation wonder?

We can't blow it this time! State Attorney General Mark Bennett, get that bankruptcy hearing to Hawai'i.

Gov. Linda Lingle, Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, appeal to Maritime Administration to place both Alakai and Huakai back into interisland service on their first charter operation after the bankruptcy hearing, the Sandwich Isles we fondly call our home, Hawai'i!

Bob Vieira | Honolulu

TOBACCO

QUIT SMOKING AND START BREATHING

It is incredible to me that the Food and Drug Administration is going to regulate the production and marketing of products that are responsible for the deaths of almost a half-million Americans every year. The FDA will reveal that tobacco contains nicotine, a colorless, poisonous alkaloid.

Insects are smart enough not to eat tobacco because it is toxic. Every year emergency rooms see infants and children who have eaten tobacco butts. Some of these accidents are fatal.

Depending on the brand, cigarettes contain 7 to 22 mg of nicotine. Smoking removes most of the poison, and the smoker ingests only a few milligrams of nicotine.

But smoking for many years destroys the delicate membranes in the lung, causing emphysema and chronic bronchitis, or COPD, which stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Long-time smokers already have COPD but are not aware of it.

Most smokers who have stopped smoking tell me that they quit because they began to get short of breath. They stopped because they just wanted to be able to keep breathing. I guess that's a good enough reason to quit. If you are a smoker, this might be a good reason to stop smoking right now!

Roy Omoto | Honolulu