80th-percentile rule change

Consideration of a revamp of the so-called “80th percentile” rule that sets a guaranteed level of reimbursements to health care providers, mainly physicians and specialists, is on hold during the transition from Governor Bill Walker’s administration to the incoming administration of Governor-elect Mike Dunleavy. That also means it will take time for Dunleavy’s people coming in to come to grips with the problem among many others they will juggle. The 80th percentile rule requires payment at the 80 percent level of average charges by providers. Critics say the formula lends itself to manipulation and higher costs, but physician groups fiercely defend it.

ACA enrollment expected up

State officials expect an increase in Affordable Care Act individual health insurance enrollment this year with the annual “open season” for signing up underway until Dec. 15. Premium costs are decreasing at an average of 6.5 percent below last year, but some policyholders may see lesser, or greater, decreases.

Alaska care is most costly

A new report from the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research documents an almost doubling in Alaska spending on health care between 2005 and 2014, from $4.8 billion in 2005 to $8.2 billion in 2014. The amount was $1.5 billion in 1991. The average American spent $8,000 on health care in 2014; the average Alaskan spent $11,000, ISER said in the report.