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Old 09-11-2018, 02:20 PM
 
Location: Louisville, KY
129 posts, read 117,458 times
Reputation: 329

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Hi everyone! I've been following this forum for over a decade, formerly as HonuMan and now as Lapaki. I've posted sporadically when I had something productive to contribute, and lurked when I didn't. My wife was born and raised on the Big Island (Pa'auilo and then Hilo) but has lived in Portland, Oregon for the past 20 years. We've been together for 18. I'm from the Mainland, but I developed an inexplicable fascination with Hawaii when I was 11. It waxed and waned over the years, and I didn't visit until I was 37. My fascination was rekindled, and I met my "local" gal a few years later. We've made multiple trips to Hawaii together, and I quickly fell in love with the people, the culture, and of course the natural beauty and climate. We have many friends and relatives there. We know the good, the bad, and the ugly about actually living there vs. just vacationing there. We had hoped to move to Hilo three times over the past two decades, but common sense prevailed when we were faced with the practical realities of kids, jobs, and finances.

A couple years ago, one of my wife's sons got married and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. We visited and were amazed at how much lower the cost of living is in the South compared to the West Coast, especially when it comes to housing. I moved to Portland from Atlanta, so I'm quite familiar with the South. My wife planned to retire from her government job a couple years later. I'm younger and have a few more years to work, but I have a job that allows me to work from anywhere with an Internet connection. We decided that moving to the South after she retired was the sensible thing to do.

Fast-forward to now: My wife just retired. We made three trips to Hawaii in the past year, and her homesickness has become quite acute. I've always wanted to live in Hawaii at some point in my life. The reasons that prevented us from moving there in the past no longer apply. The kids are on their own, my wife no longer needs to work (although she's starting a web-based business for something to do and to bring in some extra income), our house has a lot of equity in it because I bought it long before Portland became a "hot" housing market, and our retirement portfolio is healthy. On our recent trips to the Big Island and Oahu, we did some research, and we spoke with our network of friends and relatives (most of whom are retired), and they all encouraged us to make the move. Oahu is beyond our means, but Hilo isn't that much more expensive than Portland, except for electricity. We're going to spend the next year getting our house ready to sell and also seeing how much income my wife's business generates, so we can set our expectations accordingly.

Sorry for being so long-winded, but I wanted to establish that we're not a "My wife and I visited Hawaii for the first time, and we fell in love with it, and we're planning to move there!!! We have $10,000 in savings, and three kids, ages 5, 9, and 12. She used to work in retail sales, and I've done some construction work, but we're willing to do ANYTHING, even work two or three jobs if we have to!!!" couple. Anyway, I have a few specific questions, and more probably will follow later:

1) I came across an article discussing whether you should bring your car or sell it and buy a new one in Hawaii. One thing it mentioned was that not all brands are easily serviced. We have a paid-for 2004 Acura RL that's been rock-solid reliable. Cost to ship from our house to the port of Hilo would be $1,370, or $200 less if we drop it off at the port of Seattle. Furthermore, now that my wife has retired and we no longer carpool to work, we need a second car. She's partial to a used Acura. However, I don't see any Acura dealers listed on the Big Island. We normally use a private mechanic, anyway. Given that Acura is made by Honda, would there be any problems getting an Acura serviced in Hilo?

2) If I recall correctly, Hotzcatz, you raise rabbits. We have a pet rabbit we'd want to move, but I can't find any information on the specifics. I've read that some airlines let you take a rabbit with you in the cabin, or that they did but they don't anymore, or that they stopped but started allowing it again, etc. The Hawaii government site has plenty of information on bringing dogs, cats. birds, livestock, horses, and turtles, but rabbits are lumped into the "other animals" category, with almost no information provided. I've seen what you have to do to bring a cat, and how much it typically costs (ouch!) (yes, we have a couple of cats), but nothing about rabbits.

3) Health insurance: My wife is now on Medicare and has supplemental gap coverage from her government job. I've been on her policy, because it was cheap and good (one of the perks of working for the government), but now I have to switch to my company's policy, which is through Cigna. Although I work for a fairly large, well-known, global company, we don't have any employees in Hawaii -- and therefore no coverage. I talked with our HR department, and Cigna needs to apply to HMSA for approval to add our company to the Hawaii network. The process typically takes at least six months, there's no guarantee that HMSA will grant approval, and the person I spoke with has no idea what HMSA's criteria are or if my cost would be the same as for everyone else on our US insurance plan. I checked on what private insurance would be through HMSA and was presented with a dizzying array of options. I'm about to turn 60, and most of the options are in the $1,000 - $1,200 per month range. That could be the deal-breaker on moving to Hawaii, at least until I turn 65 or my wife's business makes enough to cover it. Is anyone familiar with the mysteries of how providers like Cigna get on HMSA's network? I'm impressed that my company is even willing to start the approval process for only one employee.

4) I know that Outer Island healthcare is less than awesome. Neither my wife nor I have major health problems, so it's a risk we're willing to take. We've heard that it's hard to find a primary-care physician, and that there are long waiting lists. Does it help if you know people? ("My friend from small-kid times is moving back home with her husband, and they're looking for a good doctor -- like you...")

5) Housing: We probably will get a small foot-on-the-ground house in or near Hilo, but our eventual dream is to buy some acreage anywhere between Hilo and Kamuela (we like the wet side of the island, and there's plenty of land for sale at the moment) and build something around 1,500 square feet. Honsador and a couple other builders have some plans we like. I've read on their websites that the average cost to build is between $130 - $170 per square foot for modest furnishings. That's cheap compared to Portland. Does that include everything but the land, assuming the lot is ready to build on and utilities are ready to hook up? I realize that many variables are involved, but we'd at least like to get a general idea of what might be affordable for us. Our current budget is $350-400K.

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks in advance for your help!
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Old 09-11-2018, 03:11 PM
 
Location: Southernmost tip of the southernmost island in the southernmost state
982 posts, read 1,147,270 times
Reputation: 1652
Regarding your question about the Honda dealer and Acura. General service won't be an issue with one caveat. When our Acura needed a new airbag sensor (covered for life by Acura and should be $0 out of pocket), we took it to Kona Honda. They told us that due to some disagreement with Acura of North America, they were no longer doing Acura warranty work and we would have to pay.
I ended up just ordering the sensor and fixing it myself. But that experience aside, we like our Acura enough we have another coming over on Matson right now.
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Old 09-11-2018, 04:20 PM
 
Location: Puna, Hawaii
4,382 posts, read 4,819,355 times
Reputation: 7969
1) Bring your car.

2) You can bring your rabbit: Animal Industry Division | Importing Other Species Rabbits are considered "livestock" and not pets.
"Rabbits:

Require a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI), also known as a health certificate. The CVI must be issued and signed by a State, Federal, or accredited veterinarian within seven days prior to arrival in Hawaii.
  • The CVI must list and give a description of the rabbit(s) in the shipment, must state that the rabbit(s) were not showing signs of infectious, contagious and/or communicable diseases and were found free of external parasites.
  • Rabbits are required to enter the State only through the Honolulu International Airport where they are required to be submitted by an agent of the airline carrier to the Airport Animal Quarantine Holding Facility for inspection. Hours of inspection are 7:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
  • Once inspection is complete and all entry requirements have been met, the rabbits may be released to the importer"
Most airlines do not let you check rabbits as checked baggage or "luggage". If you talk to somebody at the airline that says they do not transport rabbits, hang up the phone, find the air cargo number for that airline, and arrange to ship it that way. Frequently the passenger customer support agents don't have any idea what animals their airline ships as cargo, they only know the 2-3 species they ship via checked baggage.

3) All I know is my insurance is serviced through the HMSA network but our coverage is actually better than other HMSA policies.

4) Lots of doctors are accepting new patients. Here's a good one: Glenn Dundas MD, Family Medicine, Hilo Hawaii

5) I'm a Punatic, can't help you there.
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Old 09-11-2018, 04:32 PM
 
Location: Kahala
12,120 posts, read 17,789,553 times
Reputation: 6175
If Cigna doesn’t already have a presence in Hawaii then I’d be really surprised if they became one now. HMSA is fairly heavy handed and I don’t see them letting Cigna in the door.

I’ve got to think you can keep Cigna and everything just becomes out of network. Just don’t get sick.
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Old 09-11-2018, 10:17 PM
 
Location: Dessert
10,846 posts, read 7,253,106 times
Reputation: 27943
Kaiser is the other big health care corporation in Hawaii, perhaps they would make a deal with Cigna.
It can be hard to find a doctor that takes Medicare. I only got mine because she was a friend.

Bring a truck, preferably a Toyota. You'll need it to haul garbage, building supplies, and more. Trucks are at a premium on the BI.

Consider the possibility that you'll be there a while, then decide it's time to go somewhere else. Maybe family or medical care or the damn helicopters or rock fever will impel you to leave. That's o.k., you'll have lived your dream.
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Old 09-12-2018, 08:59 AM
 
Location: Louisville, KY
129 posts, read 117,458 times
Reputation: 329
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grassyknoll View Post
Regarding your question about the Honda dealer and Acura. General service won't be an issue with one caveat. When our Acura needed a new airbag sensor (covered for life by Acura and should be $0 out of pocket), we took it to Kona Honda. They told us that due to some disagreement with Acura of North America, they were no longer doing Acura warranty work and we would have to pay.
I ended up just ordering the sensor and fixing it myself. But that experience aside, we like our Acura enough we have another coming over on Matson right now.
That's good to know -- thanks, Grassyknoll! Our Acura RL is the best car we've ever owned. It's 14 years old and has spent its life parked outdoors, but it looks about five years old. The only problem we've had is that the light that illuminates the gear-shift numbers went out a while back, and they'd have to take apart too much of the console (i.e., labor $$$) to diagnose the cause. Other than that, we've just done routine maintenance. It has 125,000 miles on it, and everyone says it can easily go another 125K.
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Old 09-12-2018, 09:01 AM
 
Location: Louisville, KY
129 posts, read 117,458 times
Reputation: 329
Quote:
Originally Posted by terracore View Post
1) Bring your car.

2) You can bring your rabbit: Animal Industry Division | Importing Other Species Rabbits are considered "livestock" and not pets.
"Rabbits:

...

3) All I know is my insurance is serviced through the HMSA network but our coverage is actually better than other HMSA policies.

4) Lots of doctors are accepting new patients. Here's a good one: Glenn Dundas MD, Family Medicine, Hilo Hawaii

5) I'm a Punatic, can't help you there.
Thanks for the information, Terracore, especially for the doctor recommendation!
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Old 09-12-2018, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Louisville, KY
129 posts, read 117,458 times
Reputation: 329
Quote:
Originally Posted by whtviper1 View Post
If Cigna doesn’t already have a presence in Hawaii then I’d be really surprised if they became one now. HMSA is fairly heavy handed and I don’t see them letting Cigna in the door.

I’ve got to think you can keep Cigna and everything just becomes out of network. Just don’t get sick.
Thanks, Whtviper! Yes, I do have a Cigna option that covers out-of-network providers, but it pays 65%, as opposed to 90% for in-network providers. I rarely get sick, but I ain't getting any younger.
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Old 09-12-2018, 09:48 AM
 
Location: Louisville, KY
129 posts, read 117,458 times
Reputation: 329
Quote:
Originally Posted by steiconi View Post
Kaiser is the other big health care corporation in Hawaii, perhaps they would make a deal with Cigna.
It can be hard to find a doctor that takes Medicare. I only got mine because she was a friend.

Bring a truck, preferably a Toyota. You'll need it to haul garbage, building supplies, and more. Trucks are at a premium on the BI.

Consider the possibility that you'll be there a while, then decide it's time to go somewhere else. Maybe family or medical care or the damn helicopters or rock fever will impel you to leave. That's o.k., you'll have lived your dream.
Thanks, Steiconi! I looked into Kaiser in addition to HMSA, and their rates for private insurance are about the same. I'll look into them making a deal with Cigna, though -- I never would have considered that.

We have considered eventually needing a truck, though, so that's a good point.

One should never say never, but, barring unforeseen circumstances, we're planning on this being our "forever" move. My wife spent the majority of her life in Hilo and Honolulu and never got rock fever, and I've always been something of a homebody, so I don't foresee that being a problem. For the first 17 years we lived here, Portland was about as ideal a city as we could imagine. In the past three years, though, the quality of life has gone down, due to too many people moving here and too much tolerance on the part of city government for allowing homeless people to arrive in droves and do whatever they want.

We'd been looking into smaller cities that are more like Portland used to be. Hood River, Eugene, and McMinnville, OR; Bellingham, WA; Lexington, KY; and Chapel Hill, NC were on our short list. Hilo checks off most of our boxes, and I always feel at home there. Kailua-Kona is great for when we'd need something a bit livelier, and of course there's Honolulu for when we'd need a big-city fix. If we could afford to buy a house on Oahu, we'd give that island serious consideration. During her 20s, my wife lived in Haiku Woods. She took me there, and it really is beautiful.

Anyway, a move still at least a year off. It's a good excuse to do some serious purging of Accumulated Stuff that we've been planning to do, anyway. For each item, we ask ourselves, "Do we really want to move this to Hawaii?"
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Old 09-12-2018, 10:01 AM
 
Location: Southernmost tip of the southernmost island in the southernmost state
982 posts, read 1,147,270 times
Reputation: 1652
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lapaki View Post
That's good to know -- thanks, Grassyknoll! Our Acura RL is the best car we've ever owned. It's 14 years old and has spent its life parked outdoors, but it looks about five years old. The only problem we've had is that the light that illuminates the gear-shift numbers went out a while back, and they'd have to take apart too much of the console (i.e., labor $$$) to diagnose the cause. Other than that, we've just done routine maintenance. It has 125,000 miles on it, and everyone says it can easily go another 125K.
Our 04 TSX had the same thing happen with some dash and shifter lights failing. It's actually covered in one of Acura TSB's and is related to the stereo unit. The stereo continues to works fine, but you lose some lights. Acura won't cover it under warranty past about 100k miles or 10 years. We just live with it. And yeah, we have almost 200k miles on the car and it has never been in the shop for anything other than preventative maintenance. Just a rock-solid little car.
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