Announcement

President's Report
by: Rod Betit (October 20, 2006)

Summary: Alaska’s race for Governor is tightening up according to the latest Rasmussen poll dated October 16, 2006. The spread between Sarah Palin and Tony Knowles has closed to 7%.

Full Story: PRESIDENT’S REPORT October 20, 2006 ________________________________________ Alaska’s race for Governor is tightening up according to the latest Rasmussen poll dated October 16, 2006. The spread between Sarah Palin and Tony Knowles has closed to 7%. According to National pollster Rasmussen Reports, “Tony Knowles (D) is gaining ground in his bid to become Alaska’s next governor. However, the latest Rasmussen Reports election poll shows Republican Sarah Palin with a seven-point lead over Knowles, 47% to 40%”. ASHNHA’s Political Action Committee endorsed the Tony Knowles for Governor campaign on October 12, 2006. Tony has visited several ASHNHA member facilities in the last week and will be contacting others in the coming days to ask permission to visit them as he travels the State. An invitation has been extended to Sarah Palin as well to visit ASHNHA members’ facilities. Rod Betit accompanied Tony Knowles to the Juneau SEARHC Clinic with CEO Ken Brewer, and also to Wildflower Court with Administrator Millie Duncan on Thursday, October 19. ________________________________________ REMINDER: Get your priority issue submissions in soon as ASHNHA’s Executive Committee is meeting in Juneau on November 9, 2006 to set ASHNHA’s priorities for 2007. Rod Betit, ASHNHA President, sent each Board member an update on 2006 priority issues and a template for submitting priority issues to consider for 2007. ________________________________________ Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and Denali Center held their 2006 Legislative Candidate Forum on Tuesday, October 17 at the Denali Center. Thirteen of fourteen candidates for Senate and House seats from Fairbanks, North Pole and Valdez participated in the Forum. Rod Betit, ASHNHA President, moderated the Forum. The Forum focused on critical health issues and was attended by over 130 people. The format of the Forum allowed for opening statements, followed by a response to a prepared question given in advance, followed by a series of questions posed by the Moderator to the candidates, followed by questions submitted by the audience through the Moderator, followed by closing comments. The Forum lasted two hours. The Forum has become a favorite venue for interacting with Candidates. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ The following information is offered by Alex Spector, Director of the Alaska VA Healthcare Systems to clear up inaccuracies that appeared in recent coverage about the Alaska program. The Alaska VA Healthcare System is an integrated healthcare delivery system in the state of Alaska. It is not an insurance company. Of the 70,000 veterans in Alaska, for FY 06 24,000 are enrolled for VA healthcare and approximately 13,000 received care. The Alaska VA delivers care through: • Direct Delivery of Care – through outpatient facilities in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Kenai. • Referral to federal facilities in Alaska – VA/DOD Joint Venture Hospital, Elmendorf Air Force Base or Bassett Army Community Hospital. • Referral to federal facilities outside Alaska – VA Puget Sound Health Care System or other VA’s • Purchase of care at local facilities in Alaska - Hospitals and offices throughout Alaska. In Anchorage, inpatient care to Providence under preferred provider contract. Federal VA law states that hospital and medical care may be provided in non-VA facilities only when VA or other government facilities are not capable of furnishing hospital care or medical services because of geographic inaccessibility or are not capable of furnishing the care or services required. If the VA is able to obtain care from federal facilities within the time frame specified for the medical urgency, the care is purchased to meet the medical urgency. In FY 06, the Alaska VA purchased $36,418,859 for care of veterans within Alaska; that translates to 38% of their overall appropriated funding or 51% of their Medical Service funding received. Referrals to Lower 48 VA facilities for FY 06, approximately 915 inpatient and outpatient with an estimated cost of $7,123,200 if purchased in Alaska. It should be noted that some veterans choose to stay in Alaska vs. going to a lower 48 federal facility and will use private insurance, Tricare, Medicare, or Medicaid to receive their medical care. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Upcoming Meetings of Interest: • ASHNHA 2007 Winter Meeting (Juneau) - March 8 & 9, 2007. A room block has been reserved at the Gold Belt Hotel. More information will be forthcoming once the contract is completed with the Hotel. Meetings will be held at the Centennial Hall adjacent to the Hotel. The ASHNHA Board meeting will occur on March 9. • AHA Annual Meeting (D.C.) - May 5 through 9, 2007 in Washington, D.C. • National Rural Health Association Meeting (Anchorage) - May 14 through 17, 2007 in Anchorage, Alaska. • ASHNHA 2007 Annual Meeting (Petersburg) – to be held in conjunction with education sessions August 6 through August 9, 2007 in Petersburg. The ASHNHA meeting will take place on August 8 & 9. If there are other meetings you would like posted please let Rod know at rbetit@ashnha.com

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