URGENT APPEAL – SUPPORT FOR KEEPING 80% RULE IN INSURANCE REGULATIONS
Dear Chiropractic Community,
As if providers have not suffered enough under the continual decrease in reimbursements, denials, and abuse by the insurance companies – Premera is leading the charge to ELIMINATE the 80th % rule in the State of Alaska insurance regulations that protects Alaskans access to care. They are stating that the rule’s repeal will lower costs, while somehow not reducing quality or access. This information is based on old data. Repeal of this rule will return us to the days before 2004 when doctors were hard to recruit and patients faced a shortage of providers. Alaska Chiropractic Society has already sent a letter to the Insurance Commissioner in opposition of this move to eliminate the 80% Percentile Rule. The opposition has forced Commissioner Lori Wing Heir to move this to Governor Dunleavy for a decision. ACS is joining forces with the Alaska Medical Group Management Association (AKMGMA) to gather as many names as possible to be attached to a letter being delivered to Governor Dunleavy. (Please see letter below.) If you and any of your staff agree that the 80% Rule should stay in place and would like us to add your name to the list that will be attached to this letter, please reply with a YES in the Subject line and a list of the names in your office that you would like included with the letter to the Governor. THIS IS TIME SENSATIVE, please reply today Tuesday 3/21/23. See attached letter below!
The Honorable Michael Dunleavy Dear Governor Dunleavy: Thank you for allowing us to share our experience and perspective on patients, insurers, and the system that connects the two here in Alaska. Every signatory of this letter is, like you, an Alaskan invested in a sustainable, independent, healthy Alaska. The 80th percentile rule continues to protect Alaskans’ access to care here in our own State but renewed efforts to repeal it are being driven by Premera, an insurer based in the lower 48. They are not acting in our State’s best interest. The argument that the rule’s repeal will lower costs, while somehow not reducing quality or access, is based on decades old data. A lot has changed for the better in 20 years. Unlike in 2004, we have more providers, most of whom are in network, under contract with insurers reducing costs, minimizing balance billing, and caring for more Alaskans. Abrupt repeal of the 80th percentile rule threatens this stability. Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Repealing this rule will return us to the days before 2004, when doctors were hard to recruit and patients faced big bills. Our rural areas, seniors, and Medicaid recipients will feel the pinch the hardestas the subsidization of government payers by insurance is reduced. Alaska’s Medicaid budget will either increase significantly, care will be reduced, or both. The All Payer Claims Database will provide the information we need to make decisions. Perhaps it is not coincidental that some insurers refuse to provide their datato the claims database? Physician groups report roughly 30% reductions in revenue in the past decade while the largest insurer in the State was forced to return money in2018 for being too profitable. What would the argument be if costs per Alaskan caredfor have actually decreased? We respectfully ask that repeal be paused until the APCD is available, been reviewed by a panel of stakeholders, and recommendations made to the benefit of all Alaskans. Respectfully, Signatories on following pages Warm Regards, Debbie Ryan Alaska Chiropractic Society|Chief Executive Officer 550 E. Tudor Rd., Suite 202 |Anchorage, AK 99503 Direct/Mobile: (907) 903-1350 ext. 102 | Fax: (907) 770-3790 |
RESOURCES:
State of Alaska 80th% Rule Hearing Information –https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/ins/resources/notices/80thPercentileRule.aspx