Alaska Health Policy Review

National Plan for Action Is Open for Public Comments

Hurry up and comment. Time is running out!

Your Turn! Comment on the National Plan for Action

The Plan is open for public comments until February 12, 2010. Don’t wait! With your help, this Plan will be a roadmap for the elimination of the health disparities that burden our nation. Read the National Plan for Action

Comment Now!

Learn more about the Plan

The National Plan for Action, which captures the status of health disparities in our country and proposes 20 strategies for their elimination, is a thoughtful and thorough collaborative effort of representatives from community, faith-based and non-profit organizations, academic institutions, foundations and Federal, State and local agencies. Read the rest of this entry »

SB 101, Student Questionnaires and Surveys (sponsor Senator_Bettye_Davis@legis.state.ak.us) is scheduled for a hearing in the House Health and Social Services Committee on Tuesday, February 2nd. This bill allows for passive parental consent for students taking the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS.)

ACTION NEEDED:

PLEASE Contact House H&SS Committee members before the 3 p.m. hearing on Tuesday. Testify in favor of the bill from you local Legislative Information Office at the hearing on Tuesday. To find your office: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/misc/lios.php

House H&SS Committee

Co-Chair: Representative_Wes_Keller@legis.state.ak.us 800-468-2186

Co-Chair: Representative_Bob_Herron@legis.state.ak.us 800-323-4942

Vice Chair: Representative_Tammie_Wilson@legis.state.ak.us 800-860-4797

Members: Representative_Bob_Lynn@legis.state.ak.us 800-870-4931

Representative_Paul_Seaton@legis.state.ak.us 800-665-2689

Representative_Sharon_Cissna@legis.state.ak.us 800-922-3875

Representative_Lindsey_Holmes@legis.state.ak.us 888-465-4919
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

What the bill does:

The bill maintains and strengthens current parent notification provisions. It ensures that parents are informed that the survey will be given, provides for the opportunity to review survey content, and allows parents to choose not to allow their children to participate.

What the YRBS is:

The YRBS is an anonymous, school-based survey with a middle school and high school version. It is a nationally recognized and administered survey instrument developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.) It is conducted every two years. It is completely anonymous. No identifying information is given and the surveys are immediately put into sealed envelopes to be turned into the state. The survey is administered through cooperation between the state Department of Education and Early Development, the Department of Health and Social Services, and local school districts.  Data from this survey provides accountability for programs to address identified needs and is used for grant applications for needed programs.

Why we need the law changed:

The current law, requiring signed permission slips for any student to participate, unnecessarily hinders data collection needed to design and evaluate risk prevention programs and services to protect our youth. The state spent about $90,000 last year on incentives to support getting permission slips returned. This is in addition to extra staff time and costs incurred by local school districts. Over the last decade, the survey has had years of not meeting the necessary sample size to have valid data or has barely made the cut off for valid data, but with a higher margin of error than a larger sample size would have provided.

Win-Win:

SB101 recognizes the need to keep parents informed and given opportunities for engagement. It balances this with the need to keep administrative burden to a minimum, resulting in a bill that supports both parental involvement and the ability to better serve our youth.

The American Public Health Association recently presented a Webinar discussion on climate change and public health, with expert key speakers, including climate change experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of County and City Health Officials. The subject: the impact of climate change on human health, and the public health role in facing the challenges posed by climate change. Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

6:00p.m. – 7:00p.m.

Centennial Hall ~ 101 Egan Drive ~ Juneau

(or call in at 1-800-315-6338, code 8990#)

Are you involved in special education, early intervention (including preschool), developmental disability services, and/or waiver services?

Are you a provider, family member, or an individual with a disability?

Come tell us what is working, not working, and potential solutions to all aspects of life. Read the rest of this entry »

Reports find that excise tax will have reduce benefits and raise costs for employees

WASHINGTON – Two reports released December 8, 2009 by federal unions found that the so-called “Cadillac” tax on higher-cost health plans contained in the U.S. Senate health care bill would actually affect average plans like those under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). The reports suggest that the excise tax would result in significant health benefit cuts and shifting of costs to employees, as plans try to avoid the tax.

The reports were released by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA). They were joined by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).

“These studies show us that the excise tax will further drive up the skyrocketing health care costs and will make it impossible for federal workers to achieve the health security they need.  Read the rest of this entry »

ALASKA HEALTH CARE COMMISSION

Meeting Friday, January 8th, 10AM to 4:30PM, 3601 C Street (Frontier building) Anchorage, Room 890/896. The agenda, copy of the latest draft report and summary of comments received are at

http://hss.state.ak.us/healthcommission/.

The purpose of this meeting is to review and consider the comments received during the public comment period on the Commission’s draft report, and to finalize and approve the findings and recommendations statements. There will also be informational presentations on evidence-based medicine at the end of the day, from 3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.

You may listen to the proceedings via the teleconference line by dialing in at the time of the meeting to: 1-800-315-6338, pass code: 2474#. Please note that the Commission will not be taking public testimony at this meeting as the purpose is to finalize the report and the public comment period on the draft is closed.

Details: contact deborah.erickson

[Source: Health
Policy List Serv sponsored
by AARP Alaska, All Alaska Pediatric Partnership, Alaska Primary Care
Association and Member Benefit for Alaska Public Health Association and Alaska
Health Education Consortium]

December 29, 2009

Op-Ed Columnist
A Less Than Honest Policy
By BOB HERBERT

The New York Times

There is a middle-class tax time bomb ticking in the Senate’s version of President Obama’s effort to reform health care. The bill that passed the Senate with such fanfare on Christmas Eve would impose a confiscatory 40 percent excise tax on so-called Cadillac health plans, which are popularly viewed as over-the-top plans held only by the very wealthy. In fact, it’s a tax that in a few years will hammer millions of middle-class policyholders, forcing them to scale back their access to medical care. Which is exactly what the tax is designed to do. [continued]

See the full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/opinion/29herbert.html?_r=2

New Online Tool Allows Easy Access to Health Coverage Estimates and the Ability to Build Customizable Charts and Graphs

Using currently available sources of health insurance data can be time consuming and cumbersome for both policymakers and researchers. In addition, tracking these estimates over time is an outright challenge. A new web-based tool, developed by researchers at the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), allows quick and easy access to health insurance coverage estimates and trends. The SHADAC Data Center, being released today, allows users to:

• access U.S. Census Bureau data quickly and easily;
• utilize coverage trend data from 1987 to present, available for the first time using SHADAC’s exclusive enhanced estimates;
• translate data into customized tables and graphs that can be easily downloaded; and
• export data for use quickly, without the hassle of downloading new software.

A recent report shows that major healthcare interests have spent 1.4 million dollars per day this year, lobbying Congress. Political action committees and individuals associated with industries in the health sector, each of which are intimately involved in the nation’s ongoing health care reform debate, have donated more to federal candidates during the second quarter of 2009 than the first quarter of this year, according to an analysis done by the Center for Responsive Politics. Among the highest increases was the Health Services/HMOs industry, which includes health insurance companies, with a spending increase of 37 percent during the second quarter of 2009.

The health sector spent more than any other sector lobbying to Congress during the second quarter of this year as well, spending $133 million. [24] Within the health sector, the pharmaceutical/health products industry ranked the highest, with $68 million going to lobbying in the second quarter alone. Read the rest of this entry »

Attached is a copy of a press release just issued announcing availability of the Alaska Health Care Commission’s preliminary draft 2009 report for public comment. The draft is available at http://hss.state.ak.us/healthcommission/, and information on how to submit comments is included in the report and in the attached press release.

We are accepting written comments until December 28, 2009, and opportunity for oral testimony at a public hearing is available on:

Monday, December 14, from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at LIOs around the state.

The next face-to-face meeting of the Alaska Health Care Commission has been set for Friday, January 8. It will be held in Anchorage at the Frontier Building (3601 C Street) and a teleconference number will be provided for those outside of Anchorage. The purpose of this meeting will be to finalize the report based on public comment received on the draft. The Commission’s report is due to the Governor and the Legislature January 15. Read the rest of this entry »