Alaskans Face Tough Choices Because Of High Insurance Costs
The highest Obamacare insurance rates in the country are in Alaska. Though most people get a subsidy to help defray the cost, those who don’t are increasingly wondering if they should cancel their health insurance.
Alaska’s New Governor Sets Sights On Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Bill Walker, an Independent, campaigned on Medicaid expansion and now he has to pitch it to a reluctant Republican legislature.
Alaska Doctors Overwhelmed By New Federal Rules
The new requirements for electronic medical records and other technological upgrades can be a heavy burden for Alaska’s small medical practices and aging physician workforce.
Medicare Penalties For Hospital Infections Will Hit Alaska Hard
The four largest hospitals in Alaska are facing Medicare payment penalties for the quality of their care. Providence, Alaska Regional, Alaska Native Medical Center and Fairbanks Memorial are all in the bottom 25 percent nationally for the number of infections and serious complications patients get in their hospitals, according to data analyzed by Kaiser Health […]
Breaking Up With Healthcare.gov
Enrolling in healthcare.gov is not easy. In Alaska, just 53 people enrolled in the first month. Anchorage hair stylist Lara Imler is one of the few who got through. Now though, after she discovered problems with her application, Imler wants to cancel her enrollment. “I don’t even know how to feel about the whole thing […]
An Alaska-Sized Price Difference: A Circumcision In Anchorage Hospitals Can Cost $2,110 or $235
Some pediatricians, upset about the pricing for their patients and the lack of easy access to what the hospitals charge, are doing the procedures in their offices instead.
The Dramatic Difference: What A Hospital Charges Vs. What Medicare Pays
For the first time, the federal government has publicly shared what hospitals bill Medicare for the 100 most common diagnoses and treatments. The information shows hospitals across the country — and across Alaska — bill dramatically different prices for the same things. Hospital veteran Rick Davis, the CEO of Central Peninsula General Hospital in Soldotna, […]
New Colon Cancer Test Holds Promise For Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are twice as likely to get colon cancer and die from the disease than the white population in the United States. When Mayo Clinic doctor David Ahlquist took a trip to Bethel, Alaska in the mid-1990’s that startling statistic caught his attention. “Here they had one of the world’s highest rates of colon […]
Alaska Targets An Old Foe: Tuberculosis
Until 1950, TB was the No. 1 cause of death in Alaska. That legacy means that a large number of Alaskans still carry the bacteria that can cause the disease.
Electronic Intensive Care Unit Expands In Alaska
A nurse, a doctor and six computer monitors help raise the standards of care for critically ill patients in Anchorage and in rural hospitals.
