Alaska health care advocates warned the One Big Beautiful Bill could deeply affect how the state’s providers work. Now that the bill’s passed, two Kodiak providers are working to figure out what it means for them.
As the CEO of the Kodiak Community Health Center, Olivera Wilson, said she spent six hours trying to understand the bill’s impact.
She said some of her big concerns include changes to who qualifies for federal programs like Medicaid and how much more paperwork is involved. That’s the federal health care program for people with lower incomes or disabilities that more than one in five Alaskans are on.
Another piece she’s concerned about is the shrinking window for care that new Medicaid applicants are entitled to coverage for. Before the new law took effect, Medicaid covered care up to 60 days before applicants were approved. Wilson said that the “look back” period was cut down to only 30 days.
“We are envisioning that we’re going to have a lot of uncompensated care as this is rolling out,” she told KMXT.
About 30% of KCHC’s budget comes from Medicaid reimbursements, and another up to 17% from Medicare. The nonprofit doesn’t have much savings to lean on if they take hits from those programs.
“We operate on razor-thin margins and we try to be as efficient as we can and do the best we can with what little we have,” Wilson said.
They’ll also need to spend time and money to implement new rules that forbid spending federal money on care for illegal immigrants.
“Federally qualified health centers – we treat everyone, regardless of their immigration status, regardless of their ability to pay,” Wilson said. “So we don’t know what that’s going to mean for us now.”
There is some relief in the One Big Beautiful Bill though – like $50 billion for what’s called the “Rural Health Transformation Fund.” But Wilson isn’t sure when, or even how, that money will be distributed.
Other local providers will also be affected by the bill. The Chiniak Bay Elder House also receives 91% of its revenue from Medicaid.
The program also funds 29% of Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center’s revenue. Officials for Providence’s Kodiak office could not comment on the bill. But, the Renton, WA based not-for-profit parent company, Providence Health and Services, issued a statement on July 3 that the $1 trillion cut from Medicaid over the next decade will “impact every patient.”
It said the reductions could lead to care delays, and longer wait times, especially in emergency departments. And further strain health care workers who are already overburdened.
