Preserving Alaska’s 80th Percentile Rule

Preserving Alaska’s 80th Percentile rule and advocating the importance of ensuring equitable healthcare access is essential to a healthy Alaska. There are many reasons the 80th should not be repealed, but some brief points that could be considered are listed below:

• The 80th Percentile Rule protects patients from balance billing and out-of-pocket costs for healthcare in Alaska.

• The 80th Percentile Rule encourages providers and insurers to work together in good faith for fair and transparent contracting to benefit patients.

• The Federal No Surprises Act applies only to emergent care and does NOT replace the patient protections in the 80th Percentile Rule.

• Repealing the 80th Percentile Rule will only benefit insurance companies, all of whom are based in the lower-48 and enjoy substantial profits.

• Any claim that increasing insurance company profits will “trickle-down” to reduce the individual Alaskan’s healthcare costs is dubious at best.

• Healthcare is a major employer of Alaskans and provides well-paying jobs with good benefits, which supports a healthy economy.

• Repealing the 80th Percentile Rule will affect Alaska’s ability to recruit and retain high quality healthcare providers, which are already in short supply