Juneau Health Care Costs Rank Highest in Survey of 306 Communities

In the third quarter 2013 survey of living costs for 306 communities across the nation, Juneau has again ranked the highest in health care costs, almost 50% above the average of all communities.

The Health Care Index is one component of the Council for Community and Economic Research's Cost of Living Index(COLI).This index provides a measure of living cost differences among participating urban areas. The question the Cost of Living Index is designed to answer is: How do urban areas compare in the cost of maintaining a standard of living appropriate for moderately affluent professional and managerial households? The participating communities collect and report the price of 62 items, grouped into six spending categories: Groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services. The Health Care Index is based on pricing five items: Optometrist visit, doctor visit, dentist visit, and a prescription and non-prescription medication.

The Cost of Living Index measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services in participating areas. The average for all participating places equals 100, and each participant's index is read as a percentage of the average for all places. The higher the index, the higher the costs are in a community. According to the index, Juneau's composite Health Care Index is 148.5%; Juneau's costs are 48.5% above the average of all the participating communities. Four Alaska communities participate in the COLI survey in addition to Juneau: Anchorage, Fairbanks and Kodiak. They consistently follow close behind Juneau in health care cost ranking. Everett, WA rounds out the five top scoring communities.