Gov. Dunleavy: Keep health top of mind while developing 2021 budget

Like many Mat-Su residents, my husband and I moved here from Outside to make Alaska our home. Alaska has been so incredibly good to us, and her people gracious and welcoming to our family. Here, we have been embraced by community, encouraged to connect, and expected to invest in public service. Daily, I’m humbled by the way people look out for one another, lend a helping hand to neighbors, and ensure that our most vulnerable citizens are taken care of. Governor Dunleavy, we appreciated the June 2019 news story that related how you assisted a stranded motorist. What a great example of Alaskan values deployed! We urge you and your team to consider those same values when formulating the State FY 2021 budget. After all, at its heart, a budget is a values document.

Specifically, as you work toward balancing the State’s budget, we hope you remember that funding Medicaid remains a concern for the Mat-Su Health Foundation and for thousands of Alaskans. We expect the innovations brought about by the 1115 waiver will result in long-term savings without reductions in the care people receive, and we applaud your administration’s work on this. However, as you know, it will take years to fully realize these savings. In the meantime, people still need care. Yet access to healthcare for children, older Alaskans and other adults who rely on Medicaid is already being compromised. Reduced reimbursement rates are leading physicians to further limit the number of Medicaid patients they serve. The cuts are disproportionately affecting behavioral health providers, putting them at risk of going out of business. Excessive cuts to the Medicaid budget fly in the face of the increasing prevalence and demand for behavioral health services by Mat-Su residents, and they put our citizens at more risk for public safety issues.

We have had several conversations with Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Adam Crum about our concerns over Medicaid funding, and we have expressed willingness to help maximize efficiencies in the program. A helpful road map to addressing cost, quality and access already exists in the work of the Alaska Healthcare Transformation Project. This project was funded in part by the State of Alaska and in part by private donations, including substantial investment by the Mat-Su Health Foundation. We urge you and the commissioner to review the plan and help to implement its recommendations, which will result in achievement of three specific goals: lowering the annual per capita healthcare cost growth rate from 7.6% to the greater of 2.25% or the consumer price index; increasing the percentage of Alaskan residents with an identified source of primary care from 68% to 83%; and aligning all payors (public and private) towards value-based alternative payment models with streamlined administrative requirements and improved care coordination.

Physicians, nursing homes and hospitals, including Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, need certainty in order to continue investing in critical healthcare infrastructure to serve the state’s fastest growing population. These healthcare expansion projects rely on Medicaid for some of their operating funds, but at the same time they increase access to care and stimulate the economy through the creation of living wage jobs. The federal funds leveraged by Medicaid directly contribute to the turnaround you are striving to bring to Alaska’s economy.

The Mat-Su Health Foundation remains committed to not only preserving Medicaid funding, but to several other elements of the State budget, including support for housing/homelessness services and for early childhood education and services. We provide funding and technical assistance to Mat-Su nonprofit organizations offering theses services, but our assets can’t possibly fill the gap left by the State budget. We ask that the State of Alaska continues to fund health and social services that provide critical supports to families and children, provide early and cost-effective interventions for vulnerable populations, and strengthen the communities where we live, work and play. Governor Dunleavy, your leadership in developing a FY21 budget that supports these Alaskan values is needed now more than ever.

Elizabeth Ripley is the CEO of the Mat-Su Health Foundation