Alaska Health Policy Review

Health policy in Alaska is no small issue. Annual health-related expenditures in Alaska are approaching $6 billion–nearly one-sixth of the entire Alaska economy. I would like to introduce you to Alaska Health Policy Review, a publication I believe you will find indispensable. Alaska Health Policy Review is the comprehensive, authoritative, nonpartisan source for health policy matters in the State of Alaska. AHPR is published monthly except during the 90-day legislative session when it is published weekly in order to focus on bill tracking and analysis.  Here is a copy of a recent issue, and here is a copy of an issue published during the last legislative session.

Recent published in-depth interviews include:

• Jeff Jessee, chief executive officer of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.  Jessee talks about critically important home and community-based services legislation, and managing the Trust during the global financial crisis.
• Senator Hollis French, sponsor of SB 160 Mandatory Universal Health Care.  French discusses why SB 160 failed, what future action he will take, and whose support might make major health care reform a reality.
• Jim Gottstein, founder of The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights.  He details his key role in  litigation involving the protection of patients’ rights as well as his legal encounter with the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly over the Zyprexa Papers.
• Neal Fried, an economist working for the Alaska Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development.  Fried discusses the vital role of the health care industry in Alaska’s overall economy.
• Senator Gary Stevens, recently selected to be the next Senate President.  Senator Stevens talks about legislative priorities in the upcoming session and his sponsoring of SB 208, which involved the collection of data and disclosure or reports on hospital-acquired infections.
• Senator Bettye Davis, chair of the Senate HESS Committee. Senator Davis frankly discusses who has been an obstacle to health policy that she felt was important to Alaskans, and how the Senate Bipartisan Working Group has worked well–so far.
• Dr. Jerome List, Alaska Medical Director of Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Foundation, who raises important questions about quality and accessibility for Alaskans with Medicare insurance.
• Senator Hollis French, author of SB 160 Mandatory Universal Health Care, lays out his strategy for health care reform in Alaska.
• Representative Peggy Wilson, House HESS committee chair, discusses how to get health policy legislation through her committee–and how to make sure it does not get through.
• Representative Sharon Cissna, co-chair of the Legislative Health Caucus and a member of the House Health, Education, and Social Services Committee. Representative Cissna discusses the work of the Legislative Health Caucus, proposed legislation she will be submitting in 2008, and her view of the role of state government in health care reform.

Recent articles:

• A full executive summary of a report finding serious deficits in the system of care for those with serious traumas in Alaska.
• A look at Alaska Community Health Centers along with an extensive summary of a National Academy for State Health Policy report.
• An in-depth summary of health legislation passed during the second session of the 25th Legislature.
• detailed analysis of recent state and federal policies affecting Alaska’s Denali KidCare, which insures thousands of children from low-income families in Alaska.
• A detailed, fully hyperlinked list of all health legislation passed in the last legislative session.
• A history of controversial Certificate of Need legislation in Alaska, including some curious findings in the fiscal notes.
• A list of health policy lobbyists in Alaska, their employers, and their incomes.
• A summary of work-to-date of the Governor’s Health Care Strategies Planning Council.
• Every issue includes a calendar of key upcoming meetings and events that may influence health policy in Alaska.
• periodically issues include a listing of the latest Certificate of Need applications and decisions.
• Every issue during the legislative session includes extensive bill tracking, bill summaries, and bill analysis.

The Alaska Health Policy Review is a publication of the Alaska Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization.

Lawrence D. Weiss Ph.D., M.S.
Editor, Alaska Health Policy Review