Alaska Health Insurance
Alaska’s Health Status
Health care is a $5 billion industry in Alaska, one of the highest amounts spent per capita on public health ($175 per person), and as many other states, it has ups and downs. According to America’s Health Rankings in 2008, Alaska is again number 30 (as it was in 2007) out of 50 in the Healthiest States List.
One of Alaska’s main health issues, is that 17% of Alaskans are uninsured. With average health-care premiums of $11,542 for employee family coverage, it’s one of the most expensive states. While the smoking and obesity rankings for Alaska have lowered (but are still in critical condition), Violence and adequate health care for underage citizens are issues vital to be worked on. Only 64% of women receive proper prenatal care and 73% of children (19 to 35 mos.) receive complete immunization. Alaska ranks lower for health determinants than for health outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness may decline over time.
On the bright side, Alaska has one of the nation’s lowest rate of cardiovascular deaths (254 per 100,000 population), a very low percentage of air pollution, a lot of public health funding (the number two state in the nation), and a very low rate of children poverty (8.6% and still going down) and unnecessary hospitalizations, with 58.2 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees. Also, Alaska’s incidence of infectious disease has declined from 92 to 14 cases per 100,000 population since 1990.
It’s also a good thing that most of the significant changes between 2007 and 2008 have been numbers dropping. The prevalence of Smoking, percentage of children in poverty, and the rate of preventable hospitalizations have all been decreasing steadily over the past couple of years, which is a good thing.
Alaska Health Insurance Information
About 83.1% of Alaskans have Health Insurance. Still, there is approximately 17 percent of the population without it. The percentage of employers offering health insurance to employees is 42.4% and it seems to be going down.
The percentage of population that could get medical care when needed is 85.3% and the patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 46.3%.
If coverage has been denied for you, there are still some options you can check:
Alaska Comprehensive Health Insurance Association
Alaska Comprehensive Health Insurance Association is an institution that provides health insurance to ACHIA residents who have been denied coverage.
According to ACHIA, “The Alaska Comprehensive Health Insurance Association (ACHIA) was created by the Alaska State Legislature to provide access to health insurance coverage to all residents of the state who are unable to obtain individual health insurance and meet certain eligibility requirements.”
If you want to get in touch with them, you can contact ACHIA via their Toll-free number 1-888-290-0616.
Get Involved
If you are concerned about Alaska’s health care issues and want to speak out, your safest bet is to contact your federal official, either via phone or fax. Postal Mail is not recommended, since it takes too long, and e-mail might not be seen. Also, make sure you communicate with the right Member of the Senate and/or Congress.
If you want more guidance and tips on how to contact and communicate with your representatives, there are various sites on the internet that can help on how to contact your elected officials.
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| Contact the White House PHONE: toll free 1-800-671-7887 (ask for the Comment Line) FAX: 1 202-456-2461 State officials:
Official Alaska Health Insurance InformationAlaska Department of Insurance– (scroll down for health insurance information). State of Alaska Health Care Services — part of the department of Health and Social Services | Recent Alaska Health Insurance NewsHealth Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of Alaska and their welfare. Here are some of the latest news and updates on the current issues and news related to Health and Health Insurance for Alaska: |
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