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Subscribe Now: Alaska Health Policy Review
There is no other publication like it. Alaska Health Policy Review is the comprehensive, authoritative, nonpartisan source for health policy matters in the state of Alaska. It is a publication of the Alaska Center for Public Policy.
Download a complimentary copy of the May 2008, issue of the Alaska Health Policy Review, which includes two extraordinary interviews. The first is with Representative Mike Hawker who exercises tremendous influence over state health policy decisions as a member of the House Finance Committee, and as Chair of the House Health & Social Services Finance Subcommittee.
The second interview is with Dr. Tom Hunt, Medical Director of Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center. He lives with Hawker's policy decisions.
During the legislative session AHPR is published electronically every week, and monthly the rest of the year. Some of our current subscribers include:
- Alaska legislators
- Foraker Group
- University of Alaska
- Rasmuson Foundation
- Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
- Alaska Public Health Association
- Alaska Primary Care Association
- and many others!
A selection of published in-depth interviews includes:
- Senator Bettye Davis, Chair of the Senate HESS Committee
- Dr. Jerome List, Alaska Medical Director of Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Foundation, who raises important questions about quality and accessibility for Alaskans with Medicare insurance
- Senator Hollis French, author of SB 160 Mandatory Universal Health Care
- Representative Peggy Wilson, House HESS Committee Chair
- Representative Sharon Cissna, Co-Chair of the Legislative Health Caucus and a member of the House Health, Education, and Social Services Committee
- Don Kashevaroff, the new CEO of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
Recent articles and features include:
- A detailed analysis of recent state and federal policies affecting Alaska's Denali KidCare, which insures thousands of children from low-income families in Alaska.
- An in-depth summary of the joint Committee hearing of SB 160 Mandatory Universal Health Care.
- A history of controversial Certificate of Need legislation in Alaska, including some curious findings in the fiscal notes.
A 12-month subscription to Alaska Health Policy Review is available for $850 -- less than the annual cost of your daily latte! Substantial discounts are available for organizations with multiple subscriptions, and for smaller nonprofits. For-profit corporations have a separate rate schedule. Subscribe now and don't miss an issue.Send orders and inquiries to Lawrence D. Weiss at health.policy.review@gmail.com, or call (907) 276-2277.
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Dear Reader:
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the July 2008 issue of the Alaska Center For Public Policy Newsletter. The ACPP Newsletter is available at no charge to any interested party. Feel free to forward this ACPP Newsletter to whomever you like.
I would also like to note that our other periodical, the Alaska Health Policy Review, is available only on a subscription basis. I have written more about the Review in the sidebar on the left side of this Newsletter. In addition, I would like to offer you a complimentary copy of a recent issue of the Alaska Health Policy Review. I think you will find it most interesting, and I do hope you or your organization will subscribe.
Finally, we are also publishing a blog in association with the Anchorage Daily News. Think of it as a running commentary on Alaska health and health policy issues. Please take a look at it, adn.com/health4all. Your comments and suggestions appreciated.
While you are at the ACPP home page, take a look at the left navigation bar where we have a new tab, ACPP Weekly Journal. It provides a weekly summary of what we have been doing to promote public policy that benefits low- and medium-income families in Alaska.
The Alaska Center for Public Policy is a nonprofit organization. We receive no foundation funding (although we hope that will change in the future). Most of our revenue comes from subscriptions to Alaska Health Policy Review (see the details on the left side bar), and your donations.
I urge you to consider sending us a donation so we can continue to send you this newsletter, and do the other things we do to fulfill our nonprofit mission. You can easily send us a donation by going to the Alaska Center for Public Policy home page, and clicking on the donation logo in the upper right hand corner.
As always, I am eager to hear your comments about what we can do better, or where we might find additional support or subscribers.
Lawrence D. Weiss PhD, MS
Executive Director
ldweiss@acpp.info
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New Research:
One-Third of Alaska's Jobs are "Bad Jobs"
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner so the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy options. Toward this end, CEPR conducts both professional research and public education. CEPR has an excellent website which is an invaluable resource for national and state-specific research. A recent study, Working Families and Economic Insecurity in the States: The Role of Job Quality and Work Supports, provides information on job quality and the economic security of working families in the states in the first half of the current decade. It also quantifies the important role that public work supports -- benefits for workers such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and child care assistance -- play in helping workers make ends meet. This study found that in Alaska: - 27% of jobs are "good jobs." A good job as one that pays well -- at least $17 an hour, the median wage for men in 1979 (in inflation-adjusted 2006 dollars) -- and provides employer-sponsored health and retirement benefits.
- 33.3% of the jobs are "bad jobs." A bad job is one that meets none of the "good jobs" criteria. Bad jobs pay less than $17 an hour, don't come with health insurance, and don't offer a retirement plan.
- 16% of the people in working families are economically insecure because their earnings and income from other sources, including public work supports and other public benefits, falls below the basic family budget standard for where they live. [Continued on ACPP blog...]
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Keep Coal Out of Our Energy Future
Here is a new informative and well-documented publication from Cook Inletkeeper, Alaska Coal Primer: The ABC's of Coal in Alaska. The following is an excerpt from the overview: Alaska possesses substantial deposits of coal and with rising oil and natural gas prices, increasing energy demands and rapidly growing Asian markets, there is renewed interest in Alaska coal as a domestic energy source and as an export commodity. Interest in coal is also generated by price. Coal remains one of the most affordable energy sources, with a current 2008 price of $65 per ton, or about $2.00 per MMBtu, or about 2.5 cents per kilo-watt-hour of electricity generated. However, this renewed interest is mitigated
by a number of factors, including Wall Street's uncertainty about future carbon taxes, environmental standards and concern over escalating capital costs of coal projects. Nonetheless, Alaska stands at a vital energy crossroads, and several energy options are on the table, including coal.
The ABC's for Understanding Coal in Alaska is intended as an introduction to Alaska's coal resources for all stakeholders involved in Alaska's energy future. The ABC's examines the state's coal reserves and potential for production, the costs and benefits of coal mining and combustion, and the viability of new coal technologies such as coal-to-liquids. It is intended to help stakeholders weigh the pros and cons of coal mining and combustion in Alaska and make an informed decision about our state's energy future. Independent review through the University of Alaska, Fairbanks was retained to ensure the educational value of this document.
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Tracking Money in State Politics:
Who Do You Want to Investigate?
With a name like National Institute on Money in State Politics, you can imagine the possibilities, and they are realized on this site. The National Institute on Money in State Politics is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. Our comprehensive and verifiable campaign-finance database and relevant issue analyses are available for free through our Web site FollowTheMoney.org. We encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large.
It would be easy to spend hours on this site, exploring all the different analytic possibilities, reading the special reports, and investigating your "favorite" Alaska legislators and politically influential industries. For example, the state overview feature allows you to view money given to candidates and committees in Alaska in a particular election. You can see state totals as well as for specific races and candidates. Money is broken down into top contributors, industries, political parties, and candidates. Here are some Alaska examples for the 2006 election cycle: - Total contributions: $15,135,994
- Top contributor to candidates: John Binkley, $586,000 (presumably spent financing his own run for governor against Palin)
- Top contributions by industry: Energy and Natural Resources, $2,184,677.
- A special report on money and influence in the Alaska Climate Impact Assessment Commission
There is so much on this site it is really difficult to choose what to discuss. I urge you to go to it yourself and poke around. You will not be disappointed. |
Mayor and Assembly Chair Urge Speedup of Land Use Review
Title 21 is the legislation that governs land use in the Municipality of Anchorage. If you are not quite sure what this is all about, there is excellent background information presented in language you can understand at the Anchorage Citizens Coalition web site. Title 21 has been under review for 6 years. After strong urging from Mayor Begich and Assembly Chair Matt Claman to speed up their review, the assembly's Title 21 Committee began relying more on Planning and Zoning Commission decisions June 19, and less on committee members' opinions. Several bullets were dodged, including: Read the rest of this entry »
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