text: Mostly about insurance, what this article didn't address is the higher cost of virtually every medical procedure in Alaska (compared U.S. generally).  Part of the higher cost is attributable to our small towns spread across vast distances, quashing hope of economies of scale.  Thus, no HMOs in AK.  But another part of the higher cost is that doctors, clinics and hospitals charge much more in Alaska than they could for the same procedure in the Lower 49.  Read T. R. Reed's The Healing of America, in which he describes other countries' systems where doctors cannot legally charge more than a set fee for a procedure.  Medicare comes close to that, but, until we have a single payer U.S. system, not everyone is on Medicare, so those who must buy insurance policies get shafted by the insurance companies, which make bank off of Alaskans.  Remember the recurring Medicare "fix" because AK's procedure costs exceed Medicare allowable costs by so much?  This article only addresses one aspect.