Governor Sean Parnell says Alaskans stand to lose more freedom and pay more taxes with Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling largely upholding the federal health care overall. Alaska was one of 26 states suing to overturn the Affordable Care Act. At a news conference this afternoon, Parnell said the state may have lost the battle, but isn’t going to stop fighting.
“This ruling should rally Americans to action and galvanize support for Congressional change,” Parnell said.
Parnell says the law is costly for Americans and unworkable. He says he hasn’t read the full decision and is still working to understand the scope of the decision and how it will impact Alaskans.
“As I think about the decision today I’ve basically come back to were going to get good information once we’ve reviewed the decision and I will work to shift back to the federal government those costs it is imposing on our citizens,” Parnell said.
The Supreme Court threw out the part of the law that essentially forces states to dramatically increase the number of people eligible for Medicaid. Under the law the federal government will fully fund that expansion in the first few years and mostly fund it after that. Parnell won’t say whether the state will opt out of the Medicaid expansion, but he says the state will consider it. He says he’s worried about the state’s share in paying for it.
“Over time, that 10 percent comes back to the state, so another $30 million a year roughly. But what’s to say that will not grow?,” Parnell said.
Parnell says the federal government has already significantly reduced the amount it is funding the current Medicaid program and he’s confident the same thing will happen with the expansion of the program.
- Supreme Court Opinion (PDF)
Annie Feidt is the broadcast managing editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at afeidt@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Annie here.Â
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
