Alaska Has The Highest Taxes (Fairbanks: insurance, income, sales tax)

[Dakster]

I think a bunch more people need to move up there and bring the cost down! Would you take a few million out of South Florida?

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by Dakster

I think a bunch more people need to move up there and bring the cost down! Would you take a few million out of South Florida?

Hey, government screws up everything... and they tried that one already! Way back when, they took a few from various places and founded the Palmer Colony. That's what brought us... the Mat-Su valley of today, Wasilla and all.

Clearly not something that should be repeated. Next thing you know, they'd have legislators (with supporters here on City-Data) claiming that is too much money per capita, and we should be sending it to the Lower-48 rather than supporting Alaskans. They'd argue, I suppose, that the Federal expenditure vs Federal taxes in Alaska on a per capita basis are also out of skew.

I mean, there is no end to what idjits will say without thinking...

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Glitch

I hate to be the barer of bad news, but your $15,000 figure is out of date.

Gov. Parnell approved an $11.1 billion capital budget and a $2.4 billion operating budget in 2010. With a population of 710,231 as of April 1, 2010, that would bring the total cost to $19,007.90 for every man, woman, and child in Alaska. Which is more than double the per capita cost of any other state in the Union.

At the same time, the cost of services, health insurance, and everything is going up for the insured, and I am certain the State will also pay more for the rest.

Plan a:
-Individual deductible going up to $1,250 per year
-Family deductible $3,000
-Individual out-of-pocket maximum $3,500
-Family out-of-pocket maximum $8,000

There are two more plans that are slightly cheaper, perhaps by around $1,000.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

At the same time, the cost of services, health insurance, and everything is going up for the insured, and I am certain the State will also pay more for the rest.

Plan a:
-Individual deductible going up to $1,250 per year
-Family deductible $3,000
-Individual out-of-pocket maximum $3,500
-Family out-of-pocket maximum $8,000

There are two more plans that are slightly cheaper, perhaps by around $1,000.

If you are referring to the costs of state employees increasing, you may very well be right. However, that expense is reflected in the Operating Budget of $2.4 billion. What excuse do our spendthrift legislators have for the $11.1 billion Capital Budget? Wait! Do not tell me, I know - It is "for the sake of our children, and our children's children." Right?

Also, an ever increasing state population means an ever increasing state budget. When they create a state program it is funded based upon the number of people that program has to cover. If, for example, the state pays $100 million to cover the cost of 10,000 MedicAid recipients one year, and the next year the number of MedicAid recipients increases by 10%, then the MedicAid budget must also increase by 10%.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Glitch

If you are referring to the costs of state employees increasing, you may very well be right. However, that expense is reflected in the Operating Budget of $2.4 billion. What excuse do our spendthrift legislators have for the $11.1 billion Capital Budget? Wait! Do not tell me, I know - It is "for the sake of our children, and our children's children." Right?

Also, an ever increasing state population means an ever increasing state budget. When they create a state program it is funded based upon the number of people that program has to cover. If, for example, the state pays $100 million to cover the cost of 10,000 MedicAid recipients one year, and the next year the number of MedicAid recipients increases by 10%, then the MedicAid budget must also increase by 10%.

I was referring to the employee health insurance cost. The numbers I posted is what the employee will have to pay beginning this year. If I well remember, the out of pocket money will increase to 267% maximum from what it is now. But as the employee will have to pay more, so will the State since most of the health insurance plan costs are paid by the State. Summary: The employee will see a high health insurance cost increase of perhaps 100% (will come out of his or her paycheck), plus an out of pocket cost increase of two thirds over what it's now. I still have to double-check the figures, but my numbers are pretty close to the ballpark.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

I was referring to the employee health insurance cost. The numbers I posted is what the employee will have to pay beginning this year. If I well remember, the out of pocket money will increase to 267% maximum from what it is now. But as the employee will have to pay more, so will the State since most of the health insurance plan costs are paid by the State. Summary: The employee will see a high health insurance cost increase of perhaps 100% (will come out of his or her paycheck), plus an out of pocket cost increase of two thirds over what it's now. I still have to double-check the figures, but my numbers are pretty close to the ballpark.

I cannot say I am surprised. Is not the state health insurance plan being run/managed by the state employee union? That would explain a great deal.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Glitch

I cannot say I am surprised. Is not the state health insurance plan being run/managed by the state employee union? That would explain a great deal.

Not all of it it under the union. But I guess the Union could not workout a deal under Obamacare for the other side(?)

[Dakster]

What does a state employee pay for the plan every month or is that tab picked up entirely by the state?

I just have co-pays, but I pay $300 bi weekly for family HMO insurance. Every year I see the prescription drug co-pays go up and the number of medicines (formulary) decline. Funny thing is that I got a prescription that wasn't covered under the insurance and the pharmacy didn't fill it, I asked them what it cost and it was ~$18. That is cheaper than any of the other meds I get that ARE covered!

A few years back, the County had to bail out one of our employee unions health insurance fund.

[akpls]

There are several different bargaining units that cover State employees and each has a different plan. Some are run by the union themselves and others are run by the State. Each also has some sort of menu system of benefits so costs are variable depending what each individual employee selects. The State pays a basic benefit per employee and anything over that is paid by the employee. Some can get by with a less expensive plan like younger, single people or those that may be also covered by a spouse, but others choosing more expensive full coverage or family plans end up paying quite a bit extra. State employees don't necessarily have the best plan around. I'm told that Fairbanks North Star Borough and U of A employees have much better insurance plans.......but that appears to be changing at U of A, anyway...... as has been reported recently.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Not all of it it under the union. But I guess the Union could not workout a deal under Obamacare for the other side(?)

Maybe they already did. After all, the last I heard there were well over 700 exemptions given to unions and "special" (read as "campaign donors") corporations.

However, I believe the point of the thread is that our legislature is spending well beyond what we can afford. Does any one realistically expect a family of four to pony-up $76,031.60 in state taxes every year? And that is just at the current levels of spending.

You can be absolutely certain that tax burden will only increase in time if nothing is done to cut spending. With oil production in decline, the revenue from the oil royalties will also decline. Eventually reaching a point where the legislature is going to be looking for new revenue sources in a vain attempt to replace the lost oil revenue, and guess where they are going to look?

Unless the legislature cuts spending by at least 50% in the next decade, Alaska is truly screwed.