SPECTRUM: Why Sen. Murkowski’s health care vote really matters in the Mat-Su

The Mat-Su Health Foundation salutes Sen. Lisa Murkowski for protecting healthcare access and coverage for Alaskans through her decisive votes in Congress on recent health reform bills. Her demands for a constructive reform process and her votes against these bills demonstrated leadership and a clear understanding that these bills would harm Alaskans. The bills would have rolled back progress on covering thousands of our residents under Medicaid expansion, and they would have harmed our economy by reducing federal dollars that help keep workforce employed and clinics, hospitals, and key social services operating across Alaska and here in Mat-Su.

The Mat-Su Health Foundation Board supported Medicaid expansion. We did so because Mat-Su residents told us, in 24 community forums in 2016, how difficult it was to access mental health and substance abuse services (or behavioral healthcare) for their family members. Medicaid expansion has directly and positively impacted the availability of treatment for alcohol and substance abuse, which was ranked by Mat-Su residents as the number one health issue in the Borough in the 2016 Mat-Su Community Health Needs Assessment.

A follow up Behavioral Health Environmental Scan conducted by the McDowell Group and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education revealed healthcare coverage was a significant barrier to accessing behavioral healthcare in Mat-Su. Mat-Su residents were delaying care and then heading to the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center Emergency Department when their behavioral health crises became acute. Validating what we learned in the forums, the Emergency Department data showed the number one behavioral health issue presented by Mat-Su adults age 21 to 64 was alcohol and substance abuse. The Emergency Department, staffed by the highest-level clinicians and offering some of the costliest care, had more visits than our community mental health center, Mat-Su Health Services. That’s not an effective use of our healthcare dollars. By providing Medicaid coverage through the expansion, more than 35,000 Alaskans, including more than 2,200 Mat-Su residents, now have access to care upstream for behavioral and other health issues to prevent costly emergency department visits.

Thanks to Medicaid expansion, at Sunshine Community Health Center, 70% of opiate addiction patients are now Medicaid recipients, as opposed to 18% before expansion. Local organizations like Set Free Alaska, which is building a residential substance use disorder treatment facility for women, rely on Medicaid to provide these desperately needed services to their clients. A new program of the Palmer Superior Court employs a multi-disciplinary team approach to meeting the needs of children three and under who are facing out-of-home placement. Many of the services provided to these families, such as substance abuse treatment, fall under the Medicaid expansion umbrella.

Since Governor Walker expanded Medicaid, millions of federal dollars have come into Alaska to reimburse providers for mental health and substance abuse services for newly covered Alaskans under Medicaid expansion. Here in Mat-Su, we now have seven times more behavioral health providers than we did before, and 16 different organization have either started or expanded behavioral health services. Alaska health care providers have received over $548 million in revenues since Medicaid expansion began. At Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, charity care was reduced by half from 2015 to 2016 because more people have health coverage through the Exchange or Medicaid. In addition, health care jobs are the fastest growing job sector in our economy, in part due to Medicaid expansion.

Senior citizens comprise the fastest growing portion of Medicaid enrollees. In the next five years alone (2015-2020), the senior population in the Mat-Su borough will explode by nearly 41 percent ― far outpacing national growth of a mere 18 percent by comparison. Senior citizens benefit greatly from Medicaid, which covers access to services like skilled nursing that Medicare does not pay for. In August, the Department of Health & Social Services approved a Certificate of Need for Maple Springs to build a Skilled Nursing Facility in Palmer and Wasilla. This project by a private company will bring many construction and healthcare jobs to Mat-Su—but needs Medicaid to make operations pencil.

As you can see, Mat-Su has a lot to lose if the Medicaid program is significantly diminished. These bills would have reduced this access to behavioral healthcare and senior services and supports over time. We applaud Senator Murkowski for voting them down.

Elizabeth Ripley is the CEO of the Mat-Su Health Foundation. The Foundation is the official business name of Valley Hospital Association, Inc., which shares ownership in Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. The MSHF invests its share of Mat-Su Regional’s profits into charitable works that improve the health and wellness of Alaskans living in Mat-Su. More information is available online at www.healthymatsu.org.