The folks over at Think Progress have compiled a brief summation of Alaska Gov Sarah Palin’s record on health care. There’s not much there, given her short tenure as governor.
What’s the net?
Alaska is a state with healthy people, very expensive health care, comparatively poor care for children and little in the way of a safety net for those kids. To date the governor’s answer has been to eliminate the CoN program and build a government bureaucracy to promote more transparency
Perhaps her most significant initiative is Palin’s effort to overturn the state’s Certificate of Need program – the details are here.
Palin has also called for passage of a bill authorizing a new state agency to promote transparency in health care. “The bill would establish an Alaska health care information office to give consumers factual information on quality, cost and other important matters to help them make better-informed decisions about health care in the state.”
Interesting that a staunch conservative would seek to increase the size of government to address a problem that private insurers are already working on.
The governor did sign a bill that slightly increased the amount of income an Alaskan could earn (from 150% of the poverty level to 175%) and still qualify for the SCHIP program. Still, Alaska’s criteria are among the lowest in the country; in comparison most states allow income well above 200% of the poverty level.
Of course, Palin’s health care record has to be viewed in context – which in this case is Alaska-specific. The most recent data from the Commonwealth Fund indicates health care quality in the state is ranked near the bottom, while access is also poor (36th), in general Alaskans lead healthy lives.
From a cost perspective, Alaska consistently ranks as one of the most expensive states for health care in the nation. For kids, the state was ranked in the bottom quartile by the Commonwealth Foundation.
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