Health

Alaskans get nine Medicare drug plans for 2027, priced $5.30 to $191.50 a month

Alaska has nine Medicare drug plans for 2027, from $5.30 to $191.50 a month. The cheapest premium isn't always the cheapest plan once your prescriptions count.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Alaska's fall round of rural health transformation money will be smaller and exclude renovations, Hedberg says

Alaska's next round of federal rural health money will be smaller and won't cover renovations. Applications are due Oct. 28. Double-check the time.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alzheimer's Association offers $50,000 grants for Tribal health programs' dementia work

Tribal health programs in Alaska can apply for $50,000 from the Alzheimer's Association to dedicate a staff member to dementia work. Applications close Nov. 10.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage opioid overdose calls down 10%, fire department says

Anchorage fire crews are answering about 10% fewer opioid overdose calls this year. The department can't say why yet, and the numbers miss many deaths.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly approves $3 million rural health grant for crisis care

Anchorage accepted $3 million in federal rural health money meant to link health, police and fire records and pilot opioid treatment and mobile care.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska EMS clinicians face fingerprint background check deadlines in 2027 and 2028

Alaska EMS clinicians will need fingerprint background checks under a new state law. EMT-1s have until the end of 2027; everyone else, March 2028.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska opens $75 million rural health grant round before scoring rules are final

Alaska is taking applications for $75 million in rural health grants under scoring rules that won't be final until two weeks before the deadline.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 30

Follows: Alaska will score rural health grant applications on cost-effectiveness

Alaska proposes Medicaid coverage of traditional healing through Tribal health programs

Alaska seeks federal approval to cover traditional healing through Tribal health programs under Medicaid starting in 2028, with public comment due Nov. 4.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Southcentral Foundation sends a doctor to Nelson Lagoon and a dentist to St. Paul

Southcentral Foundation is sending a doctor to Nelson Lagoon October 5-7 and a dentist to St. Paul Island through October 15 as part of rotating clinics serving 55 rural villages.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau clinics join federal program requiring 24-hour crisis care

Clinics in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau joined a federal Medicaid program Oct. 1 that requires 24-hour crisis care and serving people who can't pay.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 1

UAA gets $725,000 for nursing simulation equipment at rural campus sites

UAA got $725,000 in federal money for nursing simulation gear for rural students, where clinical placements are a big limit on how many can enroll.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 14

Alaska Medicaid sets $989.83 daily rate for specialized homes serving people with complex disabilities

Alaska Medicaid now pays $989.83 a day for specialized homes caring for people with complex disabilities, up from an interim $870, under rules effective Oct. 2.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Alaska adopts Medicaid rules for specialized group home and family home habilitation

Cordova hospital gets $3 million to replace generator after four tries drew no bidders

Cordova's hospital got $3 million to replace a backup generator it says can't power the building in an outage. Its last four tries drew no bidders.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Cook Inlet Tribal Council gets $262,483 federal grant for Anchorage parenting program

Cook Inlet Tribal Council received $262,483 to expand Parent's Journey, a 20-year parenting program in Anchorage serving Native families who make up 66% of children in out-of-home care there.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Some noncitizens in Alaska could lose full Medicaid coverage as federal rules take effect Oct. 1

Starting Thursday, some noncitizens in Alaska could lose full Medicaid under new federal rules. In 2027, some adults face work rules and six-month reviews.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Tlingit & Haida gets $300,000 to build dementia services for Southeast elders

Tlingit & Haida received $300,000 to hire dementia staff, screen elders, and connect them to regional services through 2029.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

UAF gets federal award to run Alaska Native elders resource center

UAF won a $215,343 federal award to run a resource center training Alaska's 43 tribal elder-service programs in dementia care, disaster prep, and healthy aging through 2029.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Senate sends Anchorage Quyana Clubhouse land transfer to president

Senate passed a bill transferring downtown Anchorage land to Southcentral Foundation so it can replace and expand the Quyana Clubhouse serving Alaska Native people with mental illness.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Updated COVID-19 vaccines reach Alaska pharmacies as state epidemiologists urge clinicians to recommend them

New COVID-19 shots aimed at the XFG variant are at many Alaska pharmacies. State epidemiologists want clinicians recommending them for 6 months and up.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 23

AlaskaCare retiree plan proposes adding licensed massage therapists as providers in 2027

State retirees in the AlaskaCare defined benefit plan could see licensed massage therapists recognized as providers in 2027. Comments are due Oct. 19.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Norton Sound Health Corp. gets federal grant for youth sexual health and life skills classes

Norton Sound Health Corp. will teach sexual health and life skills to young people in Nome and 15 Bering Strait villages under a five-year federal grant.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Tlingit & Haida gets $1.05 million for youth classes in Juneau and Angoon and help for kinship caregivers

Tlingit & Haida landed about $1.05 million in federal grants for teen pregnancy-prevention classes in Juneau and Angoon and help for relatives raising kids.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Knik Tribe to lead effort to keep drug-affected families together in Mat-Su and Kenai

The Knik Tribe will lead a five-year effort to keep children affected by a parent's drug or alcohol use safely with their families in the Mat-Su and Kenai.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Federal grant will add two operating rooms at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage

A $1.5 million federal grant will add two operating rooms at the Alaska Native Medical Center, with room for about 1,560 more surgical procedures a year.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Norton Sound Health Corporation gets $250,000 federal grant for produce prescription program

A $250,000 Indian Health Service grant will help Norton Sound Health Corporation give food-insecure households monthly produce vouchers or shipments.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Fairbanks Memorial gets $3 million toward first inpatient psychiatric unit for teens in Interior Alaska

Interior Alaska teens who need inpatient psychiatric care must leave the region. A $3 million federal grant will help Fairbanks Memorial build a four-bed unit.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Fairbanks residential mental health center to add six rooms with $1.95 million federal grant

A Fairbanks residential mental health center will add six private rooms, a kitchen and gathering space with a $1.95 million earmark requested by Murkowski.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Seward hospital's new rural health grants collide with a shortage of space

Seward hospital won a $1.1 million federal grant to add prenatal care locally but has no space, forcing a choice between a $250,000 office conversion or a $4 million to $6 million addition

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago3 min read

Alaska prisons seek contractor for mental health care, with video visits allowed in Nome, Bethel and Ketchikan

Alaska's prisons want a contractor for mental health care at four facilities. In Nome, Bethel and Ketchikan, clinicians might visit in person only monthly.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

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

Petersburg's hospital CEO told his board the federal budget law mostly adds paperwork for the state. A board member called it major Medicaid cuts.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

FCC reconsiders how it sets rural clinic telecom subsidies, 97% of which go to Alaska

Alaska gets 97% of a federal subsidy that helps rural clinics pay for connectivity, and the FCC wants to rethink how it's calculated. Comments due Wednesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

State lifts Kaktovik do-not-drink water order

Kaktovik residents can drink their tap water again. The state lifted its do-not-drink order Saturday after three weeks of antifreeze-chemical contamination.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

YKHC names interim chief Patricia Smith as permanent president and CEO

Patricia Smith, YKHC's interim chief since April and a nearly 30-year employee, is now the Bethel tribal health corporation's permanent CEO.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bethel police warn residents not to shoot suspected rabid animals in the head

Bethel police warn residents to avoid shooting suspected rabid animals in the head, since brain tissue is needed to confirm the disease. Two foxes in Bethel tested positive for rabies in February.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Summit on Aging attendees can book one-on-one time with state health leaders

Going to next month's Summit on Aging? You can book 15 minutes with state health leaders. Alaskans 65 and older get in free, but everyone has to register.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su Regional gets $5 million in federal rural health money for a neonatal intensive care unit

Mat-Su Regional Medical Center gets $5 million in federal rural health money for a neonatal intensive care unit meant to keep more newborns out of Anchorage.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Alaska rural health notices pass $239 million with $30 million round

FDA to pay Alaska $540,768 for state food safety inspections

The FDA will pay Alaska's food inspectors $540,768 for another year of checking restaurants and fish plants, the same week Murkowski asked it to keep doing so.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Kotzebue water system exceeds federal lead action level after two of 10 homes test high

Two of 10 Kotzebue homes tested above the federal lead action level. The city is testing more homes and says to run taps until cold before drinking.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Federal report puts Alaska's maternal death rate above the national rate but warns the count is small

Alaska's maternal death rate ran above the national rate in a new federal report, but it rests on 17 deaths and the report itself says to read it with caution.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska health officials warn concentrated kratom products can cause overdoses drug tests miss

Kratom gummies and shots can cause opioid-like overdoses that drug tests miss. Alaska ER visits tied to kratom already top last year's total.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read