After spending $204 million in federal grants on a health care exchange that doesn’t work as required, Hawaii’s Health Connector is going to be investigated by the GAO, at the request of a Republican, State Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom. So far, only 8,000 people have managed to sign up on the site, working out to over $25,000 per enrollment. Even worse, the site does not perform an essential function. The Hawaii Reporter: One of the major problems is the Connector isn’t integrated with the Medicaid system, even though Hawaii’s enrollment process requires consumers to be screened for Medicaid eligibility before seeking coverage, Slom said. Slom, by the way, was the only Hawaiian legislator to vote against establishment of the state exchange. The exchange is now poised to become a continuing drain on Hawaiian taxpayers:  The exchange is supposed to be self sufficient by the end of 2014, but since enrollment is so low, the 2 percent tax...(Read Full Post)