For some reason, the Buckeyes didn’t care for a column in which I said their conclusion that Alaska needed no taxes to solve its fiscal problem was something that Carnac the Magnificent could have divined in advance.
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Dunleavy’s script hasn’t changed, although his overly simplistic arguments don’t hold up under critical examination. The constant repetition of nonsense does nothing to turn it into something other than nonsense.
State health commissioner Adam Crum said Monday that the state had decided a “couple of weeks ago,” to pull out of a no-bid contract with Wellpath for privatizing the Alaska Psychiatric Institute. But that’s not what he told legislators 11 days ago.
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My guess is that state attorneys concluded that they were about to lose in court Monday because of a contract violation—the failure to do a feasibility study or allow the union a chance to respond with a counter-offer in 30 days—and the state had no option but to halt the handover of API to Wellpath.
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Gov. Mike Dunleavy has a habit of oversimplifying complex matters and while I’m sure that computer coding is a good career for some people, I suspect Dunleavy is making the 12-week path to a $75,000 job sound a lot easier than it is.
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A misleading advisory vote is worse than doing nothing. It would serve to perpetuate a myth. The truth is, you can have your cake and eat it too — you just have to pay for the cake.
By Larry Persily
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The contradictory comments by the health commissioner are significant because he is supposed to be in charge of health care policy. The Dunleavy administration has proposed reductions of more than a half-billion dollars without examining or explaining the impact on the Alaska health care system.
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Gov. Mike Dunleavy told President Trump Alaska is “eager” to fund Medicaid under a block grant. His health commissioner told legislators last week that the state is not looking for a block grant. And that he had no role in the process that led to the letter.
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A year ago nearly every member of the Legislature voted to extend the program until 2024. As both Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature made clear, there is a way to keep the program going.
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Asked if he would spend less than the Legislature appropriates for health programs in Alaska, the commissioner refused to answer. This tells me he plans to spend less than the Legislature appropriates.
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