This commentary was originally published by the Alaska Beacon.
After Alaska’s U.S. Rep. Nick Begich cast a vote to advance a budget reconciliation package that would be catastrophic for Alaska, we are counting on our senators to step up. With a narrow balance of power in the U.S. Senate, if U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has the courage to work with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, he can help stop this unprecedented attack on health care and core Medicaid services. President Donald Trump and Republicans are trying to cancel Alaskans’ Medicaid health coverage to finance tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and those elitists will succeed if our senators don’t fight back.
Alaska has one of, if not the highest rates of suicide, child abuse, domestic abuse, and sexual assault in the nation. Many of the victims utilize services that are funded by Medicaid. This may include individualized therapy and family therapy, intensive behavioral support in community and school settings, case management that secures outside resources for families in need such as food stamps, housing, therapeutic foster care placements, and reunification with families or adoption. Without access to these services, Alaska’s suicide rates could climb, crime rates could increase, and more children could enter foster care without the supportive treatment they need to navigate their trauma.
As a frontline mental and behavioral health worker, I worry for the youth I serve and how lack of available services and strained capacity will impact their growth. I worry that in the future, I may see youth that I have served living on the streets, turn to drugs to cope, or succumb to suicide. This month, Anchorage lost the Crisis Recovery Center that provided emergency care to teens experiencing mental health crises. Can we really afford to lose anything more?
Our senators have the chance to ensure the youth of Alaska have a safe and stable future. Based on public statements, U.S. Republican Senators Murkowski, Lisa Collins of Maine, and Josh Hawley of Missouri all oppose cuts to Medicaid. Sullivan could be a deciding vote. Will he vote in lockstep to give Outside billionaires a tax cut financed by stealing Alaskans’ health coverage, or will he stand up for his adopted state? The stakes could not be higher.
