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Alaska Center for Public Policy Newsletter #2 |  |
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Greetings on a fine Alaska spring day! I would like to introduce you to the Alaska Center for Public Policy, a new non-profit organization with a focus on "policy analysis and program evaluation for a better society." Our mission is to conduct nonpartisan public policy analysis, research, and development; and to assist with program evaluation. The purpose of the ACPP newsletter is to inform you about public policy analysis and resources you can use, and to provide you with practical program evaluation tools and methods. We intend to publish this newsletter once or twice a month as a public service. We invite your comments, critiques, and suggestions so that we can better serve your interests. However, if at any time you decide that you would prefer not to receive the ACPP Newsletter, just click on "SafeUnsubscribe" at the bottom of the Newsletter for permanent removal from our mailing list. One last comment. If your Alaskan organization has a newsletter, we would like to know about it. Please send us the information we need to subscribe. Our contact information can be found just below the last article in this newsletter. Thanks, and hope to hear from you soon. Lawrence D. Weiss Ph.D. M.S., President of the Board
Over 60% of all health insurance premiums generated in the State of Alaska are paid to Premera Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska. But, interestingly, Premera is a nonprofit corporation with a central mission to provide health care coverage to residents, not to provide profits to stockholders. However, Premera's corporate leadership would like to change that, and turn Premera into a publicly traded for-profit corporation. Would this be in the best interest of Alaskans who now have commercial health insurance, or may need health insurance in the future? "If Premera's request to convert to an investor- owned company is approved, residents of Alaska and Washington can expect reduced access to health insurance, especially for those in the individual market and people with greater medical need, and less spending on health care (versus other expenses, such as administration and profit) by Premera as a percentage of premiums. A converted Premera might also exhibit somewhat lower quality indicators for those it insures and might provide fewer community benefits.... In addition, providers could also expect more contentious interactions over contract and payment terms, and state policy makers could expect less involvement and collaboration in solving access and other issues." The above quote is from the summary of the Premera Conversion Study, Report 2, produced by the Health Policy Analysis Program of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington. This informative report was jointly funded by consumer groups and professional associations from both states. These reports, numbers 1 and 2, are available on the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner website. Additional information is available from the Alaska Division of Insurance website.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a progressive public policy think tank located in Washington D.C. It is an extraordinary resource for a wide variety of public policy analyses. One CBPP report that may be of particular interest to Alaskans is Relieving the Recession:Nineteen Ways States Can Assist Low-Income Families During the Downturn. Alaska has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates, and projections for the next couple of years indicate a significant slowing of job growth in the State. Below is a quote from the summary: States can mitigate the recession's harsh effects on low-income families by re-examining the policies they have adopted for various low-income programs. These programs play two critical roles during an economic downturn: they provide relief to families whose income falls as a result of job loss or reduced work hours and help stabilize the state's economy by bolstering spending among low-income families.... State policies restricting eligibility for low-income programs, which may be appropriate during an economic expansion, may become inappropriate during an economic downturn because they erect barriers to helping newly unemployed or underemployed families.
When public policy hits the ground running, so to speak, it often hits the ground in the form of specific programs. In other words, the real test of public policy may be in the actual programs it engenders. Consequently, there is a close and necessary relationship between policy analysis and program evaluation. Innonet is a national organization and an important resource devoted to program evaluation In their own words: Innonet.org is the website of Innovation Network, a nonprofit organization working to share the power of evaluation with nonprofits and funders. We're dedicated to developing and sharing evaluation tools and know-how with nonprofits and funders, so they can do their work more effectively Innonet has recently upgraded their suite of interactive tools, now called Workstation 2.0. These tools provide the step by step, online capability to conduct a comprehensive program evaluation by anyone with any level of program evalution ability. Be prepared to spend some time working through the process, but your time will be well spent--and there is no charge!
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