Petersburg hospital CEO and board member differ on how federal budget law will affect Medicaid

Petersburg Medical Center's chief executive and one of its board members described last year's federal budget law in different terms at the hospital board's September meeting.

Chief executive Phil Hofstetter said most of the hospital's Medicaid patients, including elders in long-term care, fall outside the law's new rules. The strain, he said, will land on the state workers who decide who qualifies. "It's not a percentage cut, it is a burden," he said. He said Alaska already does a poor job of keeping eligible people enrolled because of administrative hurdles, which he tied partly to state staffing and systems.

Board member Cindy Ecklund, reporting for the board's Resource Committee, described the law differently. She said it "will implement major cuts to Medicaid when it comes in force on January 1st."

The Alaska Department of Health says work requirements and six-month renewals for some adults who qualify through Medicaid expansion begin in January 2027. Alaska Native and American Indian enrollees are among those exempt. The state's projections do not estimate how many people could lose coverage because of the more frequent renewals.

A hospital staff member described the kind of breakdown Hofstetter warned about. She said a Petersburg resident used the hospital's phone to call into a state hearing on SNAP food benefits scheduled for between 1 and 3 pm. The call went in at 1 pm and still had not been answered by 3:30 or 4 pm, she said. The resident hung up, the benefits were denied for missing the hearing, and the resident now has to wait two months for a new one. "These are the people who have the fewest resources," she said.

Hofstetter said he expects some people who need care to skip it because they can't afford it, which would affect the hospital financially. He said three Rural Health Transformation Program projects worth about $1 million, which are not yet in the budget, could help offset the Medicaid changes.

A hospital staff member plans to teach a community class in the next month or two explaining the changes, including how they affect SNAP. Hofstetter said he will keep the law on his monthly report to the board.