PBMs, Perm Fund, Voting, National Security and much more!

Senate Majority Bipartisan Coalition Website

State Senator District E

Senate Majority Leader

Senator Cathy Giessel Newsletter

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Issues affecting

your family, community and jobs.

October 24, 2024

Dear friends and neighbors,

Photo: Tuesday morning in Girdwood at the Health Clinic. Icy roads and a great, modern health clinic in Girdwood! This Federally Qualified Health Clinic offers a wide scope of services including primary care, urgent care, and behavioral health.

Modern Medical Mafia

If you've been reading my newsletter for very long, you've heard information about Pharmacy Benefit Managers, the middlemen in the pharmacy space. PBMs stand between the drug manufacturer, the insurance company and the list of medications insurance covers, the pharmacy and how much the pharmacy is reimbursed for the medications it dispenses to patients, and finally the patient who pays variable costs for the medication.

This 11 minute video, Modern Medical Mafia, shows you how the largest 3 PBMs can have profits of over $300 Billion. The largest 3 are OptumRx, CVS Caremark, and Express Scripts. The brief video summarizes why Congress and the Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing and attempting to rein PBMs in.

Why should you care?

Anyone who utilizes prescription medications, has insurance, or has to pay full price for medications is affected by PBM practices. The State of Alaska has the largest insurance pool of Alaskans, and I believe the State is losing tens of millions of dollars to PBMs every year.

Recent other state actions:

In West Virginia, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner has fined CVS Caremark $1,040,000 for ERISA prescription violations. They are also investigating OptumRx

Items in this Newsletter:

· September APFC Fund Values

· Chugach State Park Citizens Advisory Board Openings

· Current Topics, Stuff I Found Interesting, Economy, Education, Politics, Healthcare

· Resource Values, Permanent Fund

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Past Newsletters

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The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation sends out monthly reports for fund values. It does a great job of keep us all informed about this important source of public funds to support services for citizens.

Alaskans voted to establish the Permanent Fund (also called a "sovereign wealth fund) by placing it in the Alaska Constitution in 1976. Our fund value today is around $80 Billion.

Norway is a dominant world producer of oil. Norway initiated its sovereign wealth fund, known as the Government Pension Fund Global, in 1990. At the end of 2023, the Norwegian fund had a value of $1.4 Trillion.

I've asked Norwegians about their fund. The Norway fund has never given out any "dividends" to the country residents. They support services to citizens such as healthcare, pensions, education and more predominately through taxes on income, corporations, value-added taxes, and wealth tax.

Alaska's Permanent Fund has earned over $100 Billion over the 48 years. The distributed dividends have amounted to $43.9 Billion. Alaska has no state sales tax or income tax. Oil was discovered on the North Slope in 1968 and began to be shipped down the pipeline in 1977. Alaska residents began to rely on taxation of oil companies to pay for education, medicaid, public safety and more. Oil tax revenue began a long decline starting about 2014, during which time Alaska used savings to cover costs no longer covered by taxes on oil. In 2018, for the first time, funds from Permanent Fund earnings were used to pay for state services.

Below are graphics from the APFC September report. Much more information is available on the APFC website here.

Chugach State Park Citizen Advisory

Board Openings

The Chugach State Park Citizen Advisory Board will have 3 openings at the end of December. If you would like to sit on the board, you can apply here. Board terms are 3 years. More information about the Chugach State Park Citizens Advisory Board can be found here.

Current Topics

Alaskans need $1.46 in postage on mail-in ballots and other tips as early voting starts Monday. ADN

Around 7,500 ballots were rejected from Alaska’s first all by-mail election in 2022, with a disproportionate number coming from rural Alaska. Two-thirds of those rejected ballots were for mistakes made on ballot envelopes.

As dropbox program ends, most Alaska absentee voters will pay $1.46 to cast their ballots. Alaska Beacon

The size of the ballot means voters will need two “forever” stamps, costing $1.46 per ballot.

No ballot dropboxes for upcoming election. Alaska's News Source

Alaska officials finding no lead pipes in state as Biden vows to replace hazardous infrastructure. Alaska's News Source

“We’re very lucky we don’t have lead service lines that we found in the state ... people are not exposed to the high levels of lead that can be present when you have a lead service line, so that’s good.”

Remembering an equal pay champion. Axios

Stuff I Found Interesting

Alaska's Iliamna Lake Harbor seals are genetically isolated from entire Pacific Ocean, research reveals. Phys.Org

The seals in Iliamna Lake were significantly differentiated from seals sampled at several regions across the Pacific, including in Japan, the Commander Islands in Russia, other locations in Alaska, and in California.

Self-driving wheelchairs get pilot program at Sea-Tac airport. ADN

Fisheries

Alaska's Seafood Industry Task Force Discusses Key Industry Challenges and Opportunities with Stakeholders During Second Round of Meetings. Alaska Senate Majority

Economy

Here comes $2B more in federal grid cash. Axios

(My comment: Alaska is a big recipient of this money! Alaskans talk about being “independent” and vilify the “national debt” but that just highlights their disconnect from Alaska’s dependency on the federal money. Our “grid” is a weak “extension cord”; federal grants that Alaska Energy Authority was awarded will begin to put in place a real transmission grid - maybe; it depends on whether the special interests of Alaska’s separate electric utility boards ever stop the short-sighted bickering.)

National Security

"China's Intentions in The Arctic Are Unclear - And That is a Growing Concern". High North News

“When I first attended the Arctic Circle Assembly conference, the tone and content were different than now. The focus on security in the Arctic has become much stronger", says Admiral Rob Bauer, head of NATO's military committee. Now he warns about China's unclear, two-faced and increasing activity in the Arctic and the worrying Sino-Russian ties.

Army Corps cancels Nome port expansion contracting over costs. Alaska Public Media

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says plans to build the country’s first deep draft port in the Arctic are too expensive. The Army Corps canceled its port expansion contract solicitation on Wednesday. It cited two key factors: the proposed pricing exceeded both the cost limits set by U.S. law and the available funding for the project.

Education

ASD to release plan to close schools, redraw middle school boundaries in November. Alaska Public Media

The Anchorage School District is considering redrawing some middle school boundaries as part of its plan to close or consolidate schools in response to a shrinking student population.

Alaska Native scholars propose statewide reading standards for the state's Indigenous languages. Alaska Beacon

Politics

Alaska House speaker suggests election bill was blocked because it would have improved rural Alaskans' access to voting. ADN

Alaska House Speaker Cathy Tilton suggested on a talk radio show that Republican members of the House majority blocked an election bill because it would have increased the likelihood of Alaska’s Democratic congresswoman holding on to her seat by making it easier for predominantly Alaska Native residents of rural Alaska to vote.

(My comment: Racism is ugly. As ugly as Republican Party politics and agendas can get.)

Alaska Lt. Gov. Dahlstrom approves campaign-finance ballot measure for 2026 vote. Alaska Beacon

If voters approve the measure in 2026, an individual person could donate up to $2,000 to a candidate in each election cycle, or up to $5,000 to a political party. For a joint governor-lieutenant governor ticket, they could give up to $4,000.

Analyzing Debate for the State: U.S. House. Alaska Insight

PODCAST: On this episode of Alaska Insight, host Lori Townsend is joined by Alaska Public Media Washington D.C. Correspondent Liz Ruskin and Alaska Beacon Political Reporter James Brooks to analyze the candidate answers from Debate for the State.

Advocates seize AFN convention as opportunity to rally the Native vote. Alaska Public Media

Opinion: We must safeguard every Alaskan's right to vote. ADN

Alaska Oil Resource Values

Alaska North Slope crude oil price (10/23/24): $73.92

FY24 budget (beginning 7/1) is fully funded at a

forecast of $73/barrel of oil.

Price on 9/30/23: $87.99

Price on 9/30/22: $86.91

Price on 6/29/22: $116.84

Price on 3/08/22: $125.44

Price on 12/22/21: $75.55

ANS production (10/22/24): 474,422 bpd

Catch up quick: Nuclear, lithium, data centers. Axios

The Energy Department opened the doors for applications to tap $900 million for deploying small modular nuclear reactors. There's growing federal and private sector interest in SMRs, but plenty of hurdles remain.

Data centers face growing opposition Outside. Gov Mike Dunleavy wants them in Alaska. Northern Journal

Amid a growing backlash to the factory-sized data centers that power the global internet, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has started pitching his state as a new home for the industry — citing Alaska’s cool temperatures and abundant land and water.

(My comment: Cordova is reaching out to data centers right now. Cordova Electric Cooperative is a bustling innovative team! They sell excess hydropower to fish processors and are negotiating with data centers. Bravo to CEC! Clean renewable energy at low cost! The Go Ernie should look into this!)

AOGCC approves spacing exception for new CINGSA gas storage well. Petroleum News

The commission found that an exception to spacing provisions of 20 AAC 25.055 was necessary to allow drilling, testing and operation of the well, and said that if constructed and operated as required, the well "will not cause waste or result in an increased risk of fluid movement into freshwater."

(My comment: These storage wells are what saves excess gas in the summer to use in the winter. It’s important assure gas delivery year round.)

Chugach Electric, REAP, both requesting review of recent RCA tariff order. Petroleum News

(My comment: Chugach wants to charge everyone more for power. REAP wants higher rates also, by setting limits on how much power a customer could use, then penalize them with higher rates if they exceed their allowed power.)

Donlin backhauls e-waste out of SW Alaska. Mining News North

In Alaska's urban centers, an old refrigerator, computer, or television is simply dropped off at a recycling center – and in many cases, the seller of your new appliance will cart away the old one for you. For remote Alaska villages that are hundreds of miles from the nearest recycling center, however, it is neither convenient nor economically feasible to circulate old appliances and e-waste back into the economy.

Long-Unloved Nuclear Power is Staging a Comeback. Bloomberg

While China, India and Russia never stopped expanding their nuclear industries, many Western countries moved the other way due to the technology’s heavy construction costs and an abundance of cheaper alternatives.

More recently, concern about global warming and the security of energy supplies amid Russia’s war in Ukraine has sparked renewed interest in the energy released by splitting atoms.

Oklo Inc. and NuScale Power Corp. stock prices. Axios

(My comment: SMRs (small micronuclear reactors) present a huge opportunity for clean energy production, especially in rural Alaska and remote industrial site such as mines.)

Number of the day: between 5 and 19 million tons. Axios

(My comment: When you think of mining, does Arkansas come to mind? Lithium is in all our electronics and greater supply is needed.)

AIDEA considers leans for Cook Inlet drilling - and new oil leases and litigation in Arctic Refuge. Alaska Beacon

Precious Metal Prices

October 23, 2024

Gold - $2734.57

Silver - $34.06

Platinum - $1042.31

Palladium - $1149.15

Rhodium - $5025.00

Alaska Permanent Fund

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