The Big Budget Bill’s Impact on Alaska’s Health System: More Alaska Residents Uninsured, Higher Health Care Costs, and More Consequences of the Many Cuts to Care - Families USA Skip to Main Content
06.20.2025 / Press Release

The Big Budget Bill’s Impact on Alaska’s Health System: More Alaska Residents Uninsured, Higher Health Care Costs, and More Consequences of the Many Cuts to Care

New Families USA Analysis Details How Steep Cuts Will Hurt Alaska Residents

JUNEAU, AK – A new fact sheet from Families USA details how the pending budget bill, set to be voted on by the Senate in the next week or so, will harm Alaska’s health system, including cutting off coverage for at least 26,000 Alaskans, making it harder for people to get and maintain coverage, and taking away crucial patient protections for children. The bill also drives up costs for those buying insurance through the Marketplace, skyrocketing premiums and increasing out-of-pocket costs while taking away crucial premium tax credits.

“The cuts to Medicaid and the ACA will have devastating and dramatic impacts on health coverage, care, and costs for American families, and in many ways especially in Alaska. The cuts will not just mean that tens of thousands of Alaska residents lose coverage, but federal cuts will force state budgets into crisis, forcing states to drastically scale back services, leading to closures of rural hospitals and community clinics,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA. “Senators Murkowski and Sullivan must stand up to the party bosses and the billionaires who want more tax cuts and side with patients and health providers and plans who oppose this bill that harms access and affordability of health care for so many Alaska working families.”

The proposed cuts are in opposition with the voters when 82% of adults nationwide — including 67% of Republicans want Congress to maintain or increase Medicaid spending.

The Medicaid program, DenaliCare, covers 244,000 children and adults, including:

  • 1 in 4 Alaska residents.
  • 96,000 children — 55% of all children in Alaska.
  • 27,000 seniors and people with disabilities.

Marketplace coverage, available for individuals and families who do not qualify for DenaliCare but also do not have employer sponsored coverage, serves:

  • 28,000 Alaska residents.
  • 2,3000 small business owners in Alaska and over 4,1000 self-employed Alaska residents.
  • About 87% of enrollees in the state who received an advanced premium tax credit to help them pay their premium.

Families USA, the longtime health consumer advocate, is organizing with groups in North Carolina and across the nation to protect against cuts care cuts that would force Americans to face increased costs and the loss of health coverage. The Families USA website has a plethora of materials on how its partners are working to defend Medicaid, and has facts sheets on the overall importance of Medicaid to people, the economy, and the health care system, how work reporting requirements would undermine access to Medicaid, and how cuts harm families and communities.