What others say: On health care, please clap

  • Wednesday, July 27, 2016 5:48pm
  • Opinion

When was the last time you cheered the fact that the price of something rose 10 percent?

That seemed to be what the state of Alaska was asking us to do on Monday when it sent out a triumphant press release proclaiming that Gov. Bill Walker had signed a bill bailing out the sole remaining insurer in the state’s health insurance marketplace.

“Premera announced that as a result of the bill’s passage, rates will increase about 10 percent in 2017 — down significantly from a 37-percent increase in 2015 and a 39-percent increase in 2016,” the release declared.

Oh, joy. Only a 10 percent increase. Only a little less money we’ll have to spend on food, rent, clothing and the other necessities of life.

Our health insurance marketplace is badly broken. You can argue about who broke it, but you cannot argue that it isn’t broken.

A 10 percent increase is unsustainable. It might be less unsustainable than a 40-percent increase per year, but it doesn’t change the fact that the state must act to repair its public health care system.

More than 23,000 Alaskans — about 3 percent of the state’s population — rely on the health care marketplace. Many more Alaskans rely on employer-provided health care. All have seen enormous cost increases in the past few years.

Unless this increase slows, stops or reverses itself, all Alaskans will find themselves unable to afford health care. The burden of treating uninsured Alaskans will fall to our community hospitals, charities and organizations unsuited for carrying the burden.

We do not have a solution for this problem, but it’s time that we found one.

We need the Alaska Legislature to convene a special working group to address the situation. Ideally, the working group would be built upon the successful model pioneered by the reformers who have been working to repair the state’s criminal justice system.

Through careful study and analysis, we expect this group to come up with a solution for our problem. Whether that solution comes from the free market, a multi-state insurance cooperative, a single-payer plan backed by government, or something as extreme as joining the Canadian system, we need to come up with an answer that stops the inexorable rise in health costs and makes care affordable.

The alternative makes us sick.

— Juneau Empire,

July 24

More in Opinion

Dawson Slaughter is president of the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce and a candidate for State House District 6. (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Children, education, obligation

Our children and the future children of Alaskans must always be the priority and first in our education concerns

The Exxon Baton Rouge, smaller ship, attempts to off-load crude from the Exxon Valdez that ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez, Alaska, spilling over 270,000 barrels of crude oil, shown March 26, 1989. (AP Photo/Rob Stapleton)
Point of View: Exxon Valdez oil spill brought out local heroes

When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound 35 years ago, local people sprang to respond long before Exxon provided any help

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: No Alaska governor has ever so boldly held schools and students as political hostages

‘Star Trek’ reference looks past real argument for school funding

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge: Supporting education

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Rep. Ben Carpenter, a Nikiski Republican, speaks in opposition to overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Ben Carpenter: Education is too important to keep getting wrong

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Point of View: Some state lawmakers need to embrace reality, not PFD political theater

State revenues minus public services do not leave enough in the checkbook to pay an oversized dividend

Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, speaks about teacher bonuses during consideration a bill increasing state funds for public education in the Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Rep. Ben Carpenter: Holding up a mirror to state government

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in opposition to an executive order that would abolish the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives during a joint legislative session on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman: Ensuring food security for Alaska

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Most Read