Carole Shay, right, and Gwen Helms participate in a protest outside U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office Monday, July 9, 2018, in Anchorage, Alaska. Protesters rallied to urge Murkowski to vote against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. (AP Photo/Rachel D’Oro)

Carole Shay, right, and Gwen Helms participate in a protest outside U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office Monday, July 9, 2018, in Anchorage, Alaska. Protesters rallied to urge Murkowski to vote against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. (AP Photo/Rachel D’Oro)

Health care campaign wants Alaskans to reach out to Sen. Murkowski about Supreme Court vote

Protect Our Care looking for Southeast voices to influence senator’s Supreme Court vote

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is in the spotlight in the ongoing national health care debate, and one nationwide organization is putting a concerted effort into motivating Alaskans to share their personal stories with Murkowski about how health care affects their lives.

Protect Our Care, a national campaign that works to preserve and improve the Affordable Care Act, is particularly intent on opposing President Donald Trump’s selection of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Those at the campaign believe Kavanaugh will use his position to repeal ACA and possibly Roe v. Wade.

A date has not yet been set in stone for a vote confirming Kavanaugh’s appointment to the court, but many believe Murkowski, as well as Maine Sen. Susan Collins, could be a vital swing vote. Among those is Andy Slavitt, the former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Every vote is vital, Slavitt said. Republicans hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, but Arizona Sen. John McCain is at home fighting cancer.

“You can expect that this is a very, very close vote decided by one vote, potentially, given that there are 50 Republicans if you don’t count John McCain that will vote on this,” Slavitt said in a phone interview. “If one of them chooses not to vote to support Judge Kavanaugh, I think that could be very important.”

Proponents of Kavanaugh have said he’s a highly qualified candidate, having spent 12 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and spending time as a staff secretary for President George W. Bush. Justin Walker, an assistant professor of law at the University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law, clerked for Kavanaugh from 2010-2011 and said Kavanaugh’s previous decisions and writings suggest Kavanaugh will not be a rubber-stamp justice for the president.

“They demonstrate that he faithfully applies the text of the statues and the Constitution and he goes wherever the law leads,” Wilson said in a phone interview.

Wilson was recently in Alaska to speak about Kavanaugh and said he heard a good deal of positive feedback on Kavanaugh from the Alaskans with whom he spoke. Specifically in regard to the ACA, Wilson said Kavanaugh “will go without any passion or prejudice” for either party or either side of the debate.

In a statement immediately after Trump selected Kavanaugh, Murkowski has said she’s looking to sit down with Kavanaugh and give careful consideration to her vote.

Protect Our Care Alaska has mostly focused its efforts in Anchorage thus far, but is expanding its campaign to Southeast. Amber Lee, the state coordinator for the campaign, said it’s important for Murkowski to hear from Southeast residents.

“It’s a very strategic place for us because Murkowski’s originally from Ketchikan,” Lee said, “and there are a lot of strong voices there.”

Murkowski, a republican, has proven to be a key figure in recent health care votes and debates. She’s been a vocal supporter of women’s reproductive rights and case a key “no” vote during a July 2017 vote to repeal and replace the ACA.

Lee is hoping Alaskans reach out to Murkowski with personal stories about how ACA and the Medicaid expansion in Alaska in 2015 have positively affected their lives. The hope is that these personal stories will show Murkowski just how much her constituents will lose if ACA is repealed.

There are numerous ways to get in touch with Murkowski’s office, Lee said. People can write to Murkowski, call her Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-6665, visit her office in Anchorage or even tweet at @lisamurkowski. Lee encouraged people to use the hashtags #StandUpLisa and #StopKavanaugh.

Protect Our Care is airing television and radio advertisements with a personal twist as well, presenting the image of a woman who is fighting cancer and “shouldn’t have to fight to keep her health care.”

The ACA includes provisions that provide financial security for people with so-called pre-existing conditions such as cancer, diabetes and asthma. According to numbers from the Center for American Progress in 2017, about half of non-elderly Alaskans (upwards of 326,000) have a pre-existing condition.

Gov. Bill Walker accepted federal funds to expand Medicaid in 2015, and Slavitt said that expansion has helped people in rural Alaska get access to medical care. Lee said the issue of health care affects everybody sooner or later, and Slavitt said Kavanaugh’s selection to the Supreme Court could have long-term ramifications for those in need of health care.

“If people do care about these issues,” Slavitt said, “this is a seminal, I think, event in the life of their access to health care.”


• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


More in Home

Snow coats an eroding bluff near the mouth of the Kenai River on Friday, March 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai accepting bids on bluff stabilization project

The announcement means that contractors can start submitting their proposals for how they’d complete the work and how much it would cost to do so

Kenai River Brown Bears defenseman Joe Manning celebrates his goal with Marko Giourof and Gavin Duckworth on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Bears sweep weekend series from Wolverines

The Kenai River Brown Bears swept a weekend series from the Anchorage… Continue reading

Tim Navarre and Dana Cannava discuss a preliminary Soldotna route for the Kahtnu Area Transit with Planner Bryant Wright at the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Getting people where they need to go

Plans for Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s Kahtnu Area Transit move forward

A stack of the Seward Journal is pictured. The town’s only daily newspaper published its last edition Nov. 27. (Photo via Seward Journal Facebook page)
‘A thing of the past’

Seward Journal calls it quits after struggle to keep newspaper afloat

A state plow truck clears snow from the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
DOT identifies roads included in brine reduction plan

The department said its goal is to reduce brine use overall in the region by 40%

Members of the Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee raise hands to vote in favor of a proposal during a meeting at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver salmon, personal use fishing discussed by advisory committee

The group set their recommendations on a variety of proposals to the State Board of Fisheries

Soldotna High School senior Josiah Burton testifies in opposition to the proposed cut of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District theater technicians while audience members look on during a board of education meeting on Monday, March 6, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
School board finance group reviews expenditures ahead of upcoming budget cycle

As the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District prepares to grapple with another… Continue reading

Hoses pump water along Patrick Drive to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough spent almost $78k responding to flood events during disaster declaration

Most of the funds were spend in the northwest area of Kalifornsky Beach Road

The National Weather Service’s map shows a winter weather advisory, in orange, effective for much of the eastern Kenai Peninsula. (Screenshot)
Heavy snow, blowing winds forecast for Turnagain Pass on Wednesday

Snow accumulations of up to 16 inches are expected

Most Read