The Medicaid program in Alaska covers over 209,000 people or about a third of Alaska’s population. The Medicaid Expansion program that began in September of 2015, provided health insurance to over 44,000 people who had not been previously qualified. The Expansion program has helped to drop the uninsured rate in Alaska from 18.5% in 2013 to 13.7% in 2018. This program, and Medicaid funding in general, have been targeted on both the federal and state level as a way to save money and cut the deficit. Why is Medicaid important to the health our community? What is the real cost to Alaskans of funding these programs? And, what are the long term savings associated with a healthier population?Prentiss Pemberton and his guest, Jessie Menkins, discuss Medicaid, Medicaid Expansion, and why it is so vital to continue to support the health and mental health of all Alaskans, regardless of their social or economic means.
- Jessie Menkins: Primary Care Associates
- Alaska and the ACA’s Medicaid expansion
- State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Medicaid Section 1115 Behavioral Health Demonstration Application
- Alaska Division of Public Assistance: Medicaid
- Alaska 2-1-1
PARTICIPATE:
- Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (10:00 – 11:00am)
- Send email to lineone@alaskapublic.org before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)
- Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on air)
LIVE BROADCAST: Wednesday, December 5th, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. AKDT
REPEAT BROADCAST: Wednesday, December 5th, 2018, at 8:00 p.m. AKDT
LINE ONE’S FAVORITE HEALTH AND SCIENCE LINKS:
- This is a good site to start with, if you want to learn how to find reliable health information on the internet
- Mayo Clinic
- Cleveland Clinic
- MedlinePlus
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- HealthyChildren.org
- Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore Facts That Will Save Us
- American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI)
- Science Based Medicine
- Quackwatch
- Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit and common logical fallacies
- Michael Shermer’s suggestion for Baloney Detection: How to draw boundaries between science and pseudoscience
SUBSCRIBE: Get Line One: Your Health Connection updates automatically by:
Prentiss Pemberton is a host of Line One: Your Health Connection at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at lineone@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Prentiss here.
