Health4all : Washington a Model for Reform?

Health4all

Every year more Alaskan families lose health insurance and can't afford health care. Every year more families with health insurance cannot afford to use it because of expensive out-of-pocket charges. Every year more Alaskan elders with Medicare are refused treatment by local physicians. And every year health care in Alaska continues to cost 30 percent more than down south. These problems are a reflection of the crisis across the nation. Not surprisingly, the United States ranks last in preventable deaths compared to 14 Western European nations. We have a lot to talk about.

Lawrence D. Weiss retired from UAA in 2004 as a research professor in public health. He designed and built the Master of Public Health program at UAA, and has published three books and numerous articles on public health and health policy issues. He completed a post-doctoral degree at Harvard School of Public Health in 1982, and has been in Alaska ever since. His favorite expression is "facts matter." Occasionally he can be found in a local pub drinking beer and eating pizza while engaged in passionate conversation with friends.

Washington a Model for Reform?

Posted by health4all

Posted: February 27, 2009 - 11:50 am

The time for major Alaska health care reform is fast approaching. President Obama has proposed a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade as a reform investment. The announcement of this budget detail clearly makes universal health care a high priority for the administration.

Some states are already positioning themselves to take advantage of federal relief dollars aimed at health care reform. Washington State's Senate health committee recently approved a bill to achieve universal health care by 2012. SB5945 would create the Washington Health Partnership, which would provide health care to all state residents by expanding access to coverage and lowering administrative costs. The Partnership would work closely with the state's D.C. delegation to take advantage of new federal opportunities for health care reform.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Karen Kaiser, was modeled after the Wisconsin initiative Healthy Wisconsin and bears similarity to the New York Health Plan as well. For more information on the Obama-Biden health care agenda, visit the following link http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/healthcare/

posted by K.L., ACPP Project Coordinator