Alaska governor's race survey: health care costs, and candidates' own premium payments

Alaska has some of the nation's highest health care costs. So, this edition of Northern Journal's survey of gubernatorial hopefuls asks the candidates what they'd do about it. It also gets personal, asking what how they obtain health care coverage and what they pay on a monthly basis.

Republicans Bernadette Wilson, Adam Crum, Treg Taylor, Nancy Dahlstrom and Click Bishop did not respond or declined to respond to this edition's questions; we sent them multiple requests.

Have suggestions for future survey questions? Email nat[at]northernjournal[dot]com.

Links to previous editions of the survey: schools funding, Alaska's LNG project, oil taxes, and the PFD and ferries.

If you value public interest journalism like this, please consider a voluntary paid membership to Northern Journal. If you're already a paid member, many thanks.

Question 1

Alaska faces some of the nation's highest health care costs — in overall spending on a per-person basis, and also on a per-person basis when it comes to spending by the state. 

What would you do to help bring down costs both for patients and for the state, and how would your proposed policies affect access and quality of care?

Question 2

What health insurance program do you personally use, how do you qualify for it, and how well does it work for you?

Shelley Hughes, Republican former state senator

1. Thirty years ago, healthcare costs in Alaska were slightly more than in the Lower 48; now they are excessively higher, hurting families and stifling business. We will work to change that. As governor, I’ll aggressively combat fraud using better data analytics and swift enforcement. With one of three Alaskans on Medicaid, I’ll ensure work training opportunities for good jobs for working age, able-bodied recipients and transition coverage. I’ll support bills for school districts to join AlaskaCare to save through economies of scale; to expand competition through functional price transparency and consumer-realized cost savings as reward for comparative healthcare shopping; to repeal Certificate of Need; to extend telehealth providers’ practice scopes to full extent of training and direct care models; to strengthen Health Savings Accounts; and to reduce defensive medicine through tort reform. These changes would lower costs without sacrificing access or quality – and encourage timely care.
2. AlaskaCare: spouse retiree plan and my retiree plan. Spouse is also covered by VA as a disabled veteran; he uses the VA for the vast majority of his care. Because of double coverage, we pay little to no out-of-pocket, so it's fairly hassle free; we are extremely lucky. There were a number of years, though, where we functioned under one plan, paid high deductibles, fought to get treatments covered, struggled to pay off medical bills, etc. Insurance coverage has also impacted where I've gone for care. When I fought and fully beat breast cancer, I had to go out of state to avoid a large bill in the end when I would have preferred treatment and care at home in Alaska. Alaska's healthcare market needs to be more competitive with the lower 48.

Monthly premium: Unable to verify exact numbers due to weekend but estimate $2,500.

Yearly deductible: Unable to verify exact numbers due to weekend but estimate $450.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor Edna DeVries, a Republican

1. Make telehealth more available. Gone are the days of doctors paying house calls such as they did in my younger days. Modernize telehealth rules so Alaskans can reliably see providers by phone or video across distances. Align reimbursement so telehealth is paid in a way that makes sense — enough to keep services available, but tied to quality and appropriate use. All health care should have a spiritual options including behavior care, physical health and mental health.

More education on daily routine, including eating and physical activity. More alternate methods, supplements, healthy school lunches, healthy snacks in vending machines, more time taken in meal selection and preparation.

A small percentage of patients drive a huge share of costs. I formally sat on Valley Hospital Board of Directors for eight years, discussing the habitual patients and their visit to the ER. When we manage chronic conditions early and well, we avoid strokes, amputations, ICU stays, and long-term disability — massive savings over time. Re: discussion on stress — more lifestyle choices.

The Mat Su Borough is self insured — more municipalities, including school boards, could operate this way. We also encourage employees to seek health solutions outside the state of Alaska.

Require medical providers to post publicly their rates so patients can make better financial decisions.

Use shared-savings contracts: When providers reduce avoidable ER visits, hospitalizations, and complications while maintaining quality, they share in the savings.

In our area we do have medical doctors providing a flat monthly rate.

2. I have health insurance with my employer, Mat-Su Borough, and Medicare. Works very well for me and I am happy to have both.

Monthly premium: $610

Yearly deductible: Depends on the services I am receiving. Eyes generally covered fully — dental according to years of service.

Former Anchorage state Sen. Tom Begich, a Democrat

1. Healthcare costs lead Alaskans' worries about the rising cost of living. No Alaskan should miss lifesaving care because of where they live or how far they travel. I plan to expand Denali Care to cover working Alaskans caught between Medicaid and unaffordable private plans, while reducing uncompensated ER care that drives up costs for all. I'll bypass pharmacy benefit managers and establish a board to negotiate prescription drug prices directly with manufacturers, cutting out middlemen who inflate what we pay at the pharmacy. I'll increase telehealth for rural access — expanding broadband partnerships and tele-specialty networks so Alaskans can see a provider without a $2,000 plane ticket. Geography should not be a death sentence. I'll grow our healthcare workforce from within: expanding nursing and behavioral health training at University of Alaska, and strengthen loan repayment programs to keep providers in Alaskan communities long-term. Healthcare is a necessity. It's time Alaska treated it like one.
2. I qualified for Medicare last October. I also have a state of Alaska retirement benefit as secondary. So far it works fine, but I haven't had much occasion to use it. AlaskaCare allows me a form of Medicare advantage and pharmacy benefits.

Monthly premium: Medicare is $608.70 per quarter. The AlaskaCare is taken from my retirement.

Yearly deductible: Medicare A/B $1,736/$283, AlaskaCare $150

Democratic state Sen. Matt Claman

1. We must shift our focus from health care for all to health for all and work together for better, more affordable care for all Alaskans. There are three key elements to improving health for all: 1) better preventive care and care coordination to make sure we get the best return on our investment, 2) respectful community-level data sharing to better address the health challenges facing Alaskans and effectively allocate resources, and 3) more affordable health insurance with more in-network providers. My administration will better coordinate health policy in executive branch departments to maximize state and federal dollars and improve care options for all Alaskans. We must invest in preventive care, community health workers, and health care provider training programs.
2. We have health insurance with the State of Alaska/AlaskaCare/Aetna based on my service in the state Legislature. The medical and dental insurance programs work reasonably well for us. Like other in-state insurance like Premera and Moda, however, the State of Alaska/AlaskaCare/Aetna should increase the number of in-network providers, eliminate its punitive reimbursement rates for out-of-network providers, and shift to reasonable out-of-network reimbursement rates.

Monthly premium: $455 for medical and dental

Yearly deductible: $350 per person/$700 per family

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Democratic former state representative

1. Policies and approaches I would focus on to bring down Alaska's highest-in-the-nation cost of care:

+ supporting prevention;

+ supporting telehealth, incl. for prevention;

+ supporting care coordination, especially for patients with chronic, high-cost conditions, which is a major cost driver for the healthcare system overall);

+ supporting meaningful scopes of practice for healthcare professionals such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants — and in rural Alaska, community health aides and dental health aides — that allow them to fully use their training and expertise and not have patients be forced to ladder up to more specialized (and also more expensive) practitioners when it's not entirely necessary.

I also think coordination and collaboration within the healthcare system, especially with our tribal health organizations, is incredibly important to protect finite state budget dollars when it comes to Medicaid.

2. Premera Blue Cross Bronze HSA 5800. I buy my plan from healthcare.gov.

It's basically the least expensive (but still very expensive) available to me. It falls into a category called “catastrophic” insurance, because it only really helps if something goes seriously wrong.

My deductible is high enough that I pay out of pocket for basically everything. The bills that come back are often huge, even for simple procedures, which is terrifying as a patient. Was the blood test I just got $200 or $2,000? No one can tell you, often including the providers themselves. As I result I feel like I’m always on defense in any doctor’s office.

Monthly premium: $686.30

Yearly deductible: $5,800 in-network; $17,400 out-of-network

Traditional healer Meda DeWitt, an independent

Alaska's constitution provides for public health. We spend over $11,000 per person, more than any other state, yet outcomes don't match.

We employ over 200 eligibility staff members whose job is to prove that people are poor enough to qualify for help, while backlogs keep eligible Alaskans from receiving help and cost us over $16 million in federal fines. We're paying for emergencies on the front end rather than investing in prevention. Medicaid data shows that patients with no chronic conditions cost $4,581 per year, while those with eight or more cost $84,281. Every condition we prevent closes that gap.

I will protect Medicaid expansion, which covers 76,000 Alaskans and nearly halves the number of unpaid hospital bills. I will expand Denali KidCare. I will partner with Tribal health organizations, already the primary providers in 170+ rural communities, to extend care to all rural Alaskans. I will also create reimbursement pathways for traditional healing for all Alaskans.

2. My family uses multiple health care systems, which gives me a firsthand perspective on what works.

I receive care through the Indian Health Service, a treaty obligation between the federal government and Alaska Native peoples. My primary care is at the Alaska Native Medical Center under a Section 325 compact agreement, where Tribal health organizations contract directly with IHS to manage our own care. I also carry Cigna through my employer with a Health Savings Account.

My partner is a veteran who receives VA benefits and union health coverage. He and our eight children are also on my employer's plan. Our kids are all Alaska Native and eligible for IHS services.

Living inside these systems, I see where they work and where they fail.

Monthly premium: Nunya

Yearly deductible: Cigna, $4,250 family deductible.

Independent Gregg B. Brelsford, an attorney

1. We face extreme callousness from federal and state leaders. The federal “Big Beautiful Bill” cut 12,000 Alaskans from Medicaid and raised premiums for another 25,000. At the state level we've missed many opportunities to strengthen health care by getting a fair share of revenues from S-corporations and non-resident workers.

Ranked Choice Voting has brought more bipartisan problem-solving to Juneau. It helped elect legislators who worked across differences and overrode two 2025 vetoes to overcome seven years of K-12 underfunding. Extremist Republicans want to repeal RCV to drive us back to gridlock on improving health care and other needs. Don't let them.

I support a commonsense approach to fortifying health care by combining practical market-based, access, and administrative strategies. This includes price transparency, telehealth coverage, Medicaid coverage for mental health and home care workers, and expanding physician assistant and nurse practitioner scopes of practice.

2. My wife and I are blessed to have Aetna and Medicare. They are provided through my Alaska public service covered by the state PERS retirement system and the federal government. These health insurance plans work smoothly for us – no major complaints.

Monthly premium: Decline to answer based on privacy concerns.

Yearly deductible: Decline to answer based on privacy concerns.

Dave Bronson, Republican and former mayor of Anchorage

1. Alaska does have some of the highest health care costs in the nation. That is unacceptable.

As governor, I will attack this problem head on by cutting the red tape and bureaucracy that drives up costs. We will expand telemedicine so Alaskans in rural areas can get quality care without expensive travel. Healthcare costs aren't just the visit and service itself. It's the getting there and back and stay in between. This is extremely challenging for Southeast Alaska. We will build out the ferry system to improve this cost for patients as well.

On the state side we will conduct a full audit of Medicaid and other state health programs to eliminate waste and fraud. We will move toward more competitive bidding and private sector solutions rather than growing the government bureaucracy. Healthcare should be driven by the doctor and patient, not insurance companies and lawyers. Healthcare needs legal reform. Insurance and pharmaceutical companies drive costs.

2. I use the V.A. and my wife has Tri-Care [an insurance program for military family members]. It has its challenges.

Monthly premium/yearly deductible: n/a

Anchorage doctor Matt Heilala, a Republican

1. As a surgeon with nearly 30 years practicing in Alaska and owner of multiple clinics and ambulatory surgery centers, with an MBA in healthcare economics, I understand our state’s severe healthcare cost crisis firsthand. Alaska has some of the nation’s highest per-person healthcare spending. The best way to cut costs and boost access is by growing and diversifying industry to create more good jobs with employer-sponsored health benefits.We must repeal the Certificate of Need program, which protects monopolies and stifles competition. Additional reforms include price transparency, expanded use of ambulatory surgery centers, tort reform, and high-deductible catastrophic plans with Health Savings Accounts. I propose allowing physicians and private practices to write off patient balances as tax-deductible expenses to encourage medical goodwill for those struggling with costs.These changes will lower premiums and state spending while improving access and preserving quality care.
2. For the past 30 years, my health insurance has been provided through my own medical practice and business. Upon retiring from active practice, I transitioned to a COBRA plan through the medical practice that purchased and absorbed my former practice. It is currently the most expensive plan with the highest deductible I have had in all these years. While I do not personally use Health Savings Accounts at this time, I see tremendous opportunity in expanding their use to help Alaskans become smarter healthcare consumers and better control costs.

Monthly premium: $2,600 per month (for my wife and myself only).

Yearly deductible: Around $5,000 (yearly deductible).

Because of a technical problem, DeVries' answer to Question 1 exceeded the 1,000-character limit and was published in full on a one-time basis.