ISER Research Matters No. 26. No Health Insurance: How Do Alaskans Cope? December 4, 2007

It's no surprise that a lot of Alaskans without health insurance say they can't afford it. That's what individual Alaskans and owners of small businesses told us, in focus groups we held to learn more about why so many Alaskans—about one in eight—are uninsured. But Alaskans at the focus groups did more than just confirm what millions of Americans say about the costs of health insurance. A new ISER research summary by Rosyland Frazier and Virgene Hanna, "No Health Insurance: How Do Alaskans Cope?" reports on the focus group findings.

• Uninsured Alaskans don't see health care as an entitlement. They believe they ought to pay for it—they just can't afford the going rates. On average, the people at the focus groups told us they could pay $100 a month per person for health insurance.
• The cost of insurance premiums was the reason most often cited by uninsured Alaskans at the focus groups, but some also said they didn't believe they needed insurance, had pre-existing conditions that kept them from getting insurance, or weren't sure how to go about looking for insurance.
• Most business owners who didn't offer employee insurance also cited the costs, but said other things also influence their decisions. Those include uncertainty about their future business revenues, the difficulty of controlling insurance costs, the complexity of insurance policies, and the additional administrative burden.
• Uninsured Alaskans at the focus groups said they most often get medical care in hospital emergency rooms or community health centers, which have sliding-fee scales for uninsured patients. Those health centers are seeing a fast growing share of all uninsured Alaskans—up from 21% in 2002 to 38% in 2005.

ISER held the focus groups under contract with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Summary      Full report

ISER Research Matters No. 25. Economic Significance of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
November 9, 2007

The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport generates one in eight of all wage and salary jobs in Anchorage, or about 18,400 of the city's total 146,800 such jobs in 2006. The airport also generates the same share of payroll—about one in eight dollars of wage and salary payroll can be traced to the airport. These are among the findings of a new study by Scott Goldsmith and Mary Killorin of ISER. The study was funded by the airport, and other findings include:

• About 55% of the airport-related jobs, or 10,222 jobs, are at the airport itself. The remaining 45%, or 8,212 jobs, are generated in the Anchorage community when airlines and other airport businesses make purchases in the community and when airport workers spend their paychecks.
• Anchorage's airport is about five times bigger than airports in other cities of comparable size. That's because the airport serves not only Anchorage residents but international air cargo carriers, visitors from outside Alaska, and residents of other Alaska places traveling through Anchorage.
• Anchorage is now the third largest cargo airport in the world, based on the total weight of cargo moving through the airport. According to the Airport Council International, Anchorage ranked below Memphis and Hong Kong but above Tokyo, Shanghai, and Frankfurt in 2006.
• The airport's contribution to the economy of Anchorage and Alaska goes beyond jobs and payroll. It's part of the infrastructure that links Alaska residents and businesses to each other and the rest of the world. Without it, the costs of living and doing business here would be much higher.

Full report.

ISER Research Matters No. 24. How Much Might Climate Change Add to Future Costs for Public  Infrastructure?
June 27, 2007

Scientists expect Alaska's climate to get warmer over time—and the changing climate could make it roughly 10% to 20% more expensive to build and maintain public infrastructure in Alaska between now and 2030 and 10% more expensive between now and 2080. These are preliminary estimates of how much climate warming could increase the future costs for roads, harbors, schools, the power grid, sewer systems, and all the other public infrastructure that keeps Alaska functioning.

A warming climate will damage Alaska's infrastructure—and make it more expensive to maintain and replace—because that infrastructure was designed for a cold climate. These preliminary estimates of how much infrastructure costs might increase are from a model ISER researchers developed with help from faculty at UAA's School of Engineering and the University of Colorado.

• Even without climate change, the costs of maintaining and replacing federal, state, and local infrastructure in Alaska are considerable—an estimated $32 billion between now and 2030 and $56 billion between now and 2080.
• Damage from climate change could add $3.6 billion to $6.1 billion to infrastructure costs between now and 2030 and $5.6 billion to $7.6 billion between now and 2080, depending on the level of climate change and assuming that government agencies adapt infrastructure to changing conditions.
• Not all areas of Alaska or types of infrastructure will be equally affected by climate change. The damage will be concentrated in areas where permafrost thaws, flooding increases, and coastal erosion gets worse. Extra infrastructure costs in the next 25 years will mostly be for maintaining or replacing roads, airport runways, and water and sewer systems.

Click here to see either a summary or the full report, Estimating Future Costs for Alaska Public Infrastructure at Risk from Climate Change.

 

ISER Research Matters No. 23. New Kids Count Alaska Data Book
April 9, 2007

A new look at how well Alaska's children and teenagers are doing, the annual Kids Count Alaska Data Book, reports some good news and some bad news.

• Birth rates among teenage girls continue to fall, and since the 1990s rates in Alaska have fallen faster than the national average. But teenage girls in the northern and southwestern regions of Alaska still have babies at much higher than national rates.
• Juvenile crime in Alaska was lower in 2004 than in 1994 and lower than the national average. But teenagers in Alaska still commit property crimes and drive under the influence of alcohol more often than teenagers nationwide.
• Alaska's high school students are passing the high school graduation qualifying exam at higher rates now than in 2002, but about 25% still failed the math and reading sections in 2006. Only half of the state's Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic students graduate from high school.
• The share of children without health insurance is lower in Alaska than nationwide, largely because Alaska Native children are eligible for health care through the Alaska Area Native Health Service.

The new data book also includes stories from seven foster families around the state. These families have opened their homes and their hearts to some of the 2,000 Alaska children in foster care. All the families report that the satisfaction they get from helping some of Alaska's most vulnerable children far outweighs the difficulties.

Click here to see the data book. Copies are also available from ISER in Anchorage. Call 907-786-7710 for information.

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ISER Research Matters No. 22. The Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic: What Did We Learn?
March 20, 2007

The results of a new, international survey of indigenous people across the Arctic will be presented at a workshop hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage on Thursday March 22. This workshop marks the start of the new International Polar Year, which is a period of intense, international research to find out more about the polar regions. The morning session of the workshop, from 9:30 to 11:45, is free and open to the public, and will be held in Room 118 of UAA's Social Sciences Building (which adjoins the Consortium Library). Click here to see a workshop agenda.

The Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA) is ground-breaking, because it was designed and conducted by researchers and indigenous people acting as partners. More than 7,000 Inupiat, Inuit, and other indigenous peoples were interviewed in Northern Alaska, Greenland, the Chukotka region of Russia, and the Inuit settlement regions of Canada. ISER conducted the survey in Northern Alaska. To see a brief description of the survey and some of the major findings, click here.

ISER Research Matters No. 21. The Economic Importance of Nonprofits in Alaska
March 14, 2007

The 6,000 nonprofit organizations in Alaska are major contributors to the state economy, directly and indirectly supporting 10% of all jobs—significantly more than the 7% of jobs nonprofits support nationwide. That's among the findings of a new ISER study prepared by economist Scott Goldsmith for the Foraker Group.

"Nonprofits" are a diverse group made up of health and social service organizations (including Alaska Native nonprofits), educational and arts groups, recreational clubs, business leagues, veterans' organizations, churches, and many others. What they all have in common is that they are exempt from federal corporate income tax, and they serve some public purpose. Those nonprofits spend $3.4 billion in Alaska annually, with significant economic benefits:

• More than 43,000 Alaska jobs and about $1.5 billion in annual payroll depend in one way or another on nonprofit organizations.
• About 28,000 Alaskans work directly for nonprofits, with an annual payroll of $1 billion.
• Another 15,000 jobs and $500 million in payroll are generated indirectly when employees of nonprofits spend their paychecks or when nonprofits buy goods or services from other Alaska businesses.
• Nonprofits make purchases of close to $500 million from Alaska businesses annually.
• Nonprofit organizations are everywhere in the state. More than three-quarters of the jobs they support are in Anchorage and other urban areas. But they also account for a big share of total employment in rural regional centers like Nome, Bethel, and Dillingham. That's because jobs in regional health, housing, and other social service organizations are very important in those communities.

Full report: "The Foraker Group Report on the Alaska Nonprofit Economy"

ISER Research Matters No. 20. The Great Salmon Run: Competition Between Wild and Farmed Salmon
March 5, 2007

The debate about wild versus farmed salmon has gotten a lot of attention lately—but that's the wrong salmon debate, according to a comprehensive new study of competition between wild and farmed salmon. Explosive and continuing growth in farmed salmon has changed the salmon industry and salmon markets forever. But wild salmon and farmed salmon each fill a place in world markets that the other couldn't. So rather than debate about which is better, people who care about salmon issues should instead be talking about what policies could help make both the wild salmon and the farmed salmon industries profitable, while at the same time protecting wild salmon resources and the environment.

But thinking about what policies might be most effective requires understanding the many complex and contentious issues surrounding wild and farmed salmon—issues that are often oversimplified and misunderstood. "The Great Salmon Run: Competition Between Wild and Farmed Salmon" is a 300-page report specifically intended to explain the range and complexity of salmon issues. It describes everything from North American wild salmon stocks (primarily in Alaska) to the world salmon farming industry to salmon markets, products, distribution systems, and consumers.

The report was published by TRAFFIC North America, a joint program of the World Wildlife Fund and the World Conservation Union. The authors are Gunnar Knapp, a fisheries economist at ISER, and Cathy Roheim and James Anderson of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources at the University of Rhode Island. They issue a warning early in the report: "Readers seeking simple answers about salmon issues will be disappointed. Nothing is simple about salmon, salmon fisheries, or salmon markets."

The report is available online. ISER also has a limited number of hard copies, at a price of $25 each. Call ISER at 907-786-7710.

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