OP-ED: Securing historic $1.4 billion for generational opportunity to transform health care in Alaska

Happy New Year, Alaska!
As we look to 2026, we have challenges, but we also have enormous opportunities, many of which we’ve been pursuing for decades: an oil production boom on state and federal lands; historic progress on the gasline; bringing icebreakers to our state; billions of dollars of military, Coast Guard, and infrastructure investments; and major tax cuts for working families and our seniors who’ve worked so hard to build our state. This progress, which will benefit communities across the state and create thousands of jobs, is the result of Republicans in charge in Congress and the White House who want to partner with Alaska and help us thrive.
Another area of historic state-federal government partnership is in health care. Last week, Gov. Dunleavy, Rep. Begich, and I announced a historic federal investment from the budget reconciliation bill’s $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program in our state’s health care system: $272 million per year for five years — nearly $1.4 billion in total — to transform Alaska’s health care system and make it more responsive and affordable.
Alaska is finally receiving funding that reflects the realities of delivering care in the most rural, high-cost state in America. Importantly, it’s flexible and tailored to Alaska’s unique geography and costs. For too long, when it came to federal health care funding, Alaska was consistently left behind — receiving fewer dollars per capita than states with far lower costs and far greater access to care. Alaskans felt the consequences: patients traveling thousands of miles for treatment, rural clinics stretched thin, and families paying more for less.
Take Medicaid’s Federal Medical Assistance Percentage — FMAP — which determines how much the federal government pays toward a state’s Medicaid program. Despite our extreme costs and geography, Alaska receives only slightly above the statutory minimum — a 50–50 match — the lowest possible level in the country. At the same time, other states with lower health care costs receive far more generous federal funding.
Fixing this inequity and bringing much-needed federal health care funding to Alaska has been a top priority of mine since joining the Senate.
Earlier this year, during the budget reconciliation process that resulted in the Working Families Tax Cut Act, my team and I pushed hard to include a provision to correct the broken FMAP formula and raise Alaska’s federal Medicaid funding by an estimated $200 million annually.
Both the White House and Senate Republicans supported my provision, and it was included in the bill.
But, at the one-yard line, in the middle of the night, Senate Democrats — led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — challenged my Alaska FMAP provision under procedural rules, stripping it from the bill. After nearly a decade of trying to pass this pro-Alaska provision, it was a gut punch. But we pivoted, to get other major funding for Alaska.
The Rural Health Transformation Program originally totaled $25 billion nationwide. My team and I worked to overhaul this program to benefit Alaska. We doubled its funding to $50 billion, accelerated its start date to 2026, and ensured a $100 million base amount for every state — a huge benefit for us. Importantly, we amended the formula to prioritize the most rural states when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) evaluated the funding applications.
Because of that formula, the commitments I received for our state, and the innovative application that the Alaska Department of Health submitted at $1.4 billion over five years, only Texas received a larger funding award than Alaska.
More federal dollars alone do not automatically produce better health outcomes. But targeted, thoughtful investments — paired with accountability — can be transformative.
While the Rural Health Transformation Program focuses on access and affordability for Alaskans, other immediate challenges remain.
We’ve already begun to undertake significant reforms on prescription drugs, a major health care cost driver. The Trump administration recently announced a new agreement with nine major pharmaceutical companies to reduce drug prices for Americans. I’ve long pushed to end the practice of Americans paying more for the same medicines than patients in other developed nations. That effort is finally gaining traction.
All these historic opportunities work in the same direction: toward a health care system that is fairer, more affordable, and grounded in our unique Alaska challenges.
The Rural Health Transformation Program, based on flexibility, accountability, and trust in Alaska-based solutions, is a crucial part of that effort. If we work together to smartly implement this historic federal investment, we have a generational opportunity to transform health care in Alaska for the better and seize a brighter future for our kids and grandkids.
Sen. Dan Sullivan has represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate since he was first elected in 2014.
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