Sunshine Community Health Clinic discusses possible reduction in funding

Alaska faces major cuts in annual Medicaid spending following Trump’s signing the budget reconciliation bill into law earlier this month.

According to Joshua Gilmore, CEO of the Sunshine Community Health Clinic, around one-third of their patients rely on Medicaid. 

SCHC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Foreman said a reduction in Medicaid funding wouldn’t just impact their patients on Medicaid.

“I would say all of our patients rely on Medicaid because we rely so strongly on the Medicaid revenue,” Dr. Foreman said, “So if we lose too much Medicaid revenue, then we’re not open. That means if you have Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Medicare, VA, whatever, our doors are closed because we can’t pay the rent.”

SCHC CEO Joshua Gilmore said another major concern is the added complications to the Medicaid application process. He said many relying on Medicaid will need to resubmit their application every six months instead of every year, effectively doubling the number of Medicaid applications the state must process.

Gilmore said Alaska already has a backlog of applications and added that the state uses outdated software to process those applications. He said he’s afraid of how many people could fall through the cracks.

“How many people are gonna get kicked off the roles?” Gilmore said, “Not because they don’t actually qualify and not because they’re not actually following through with what they’re supposed to do, but because the system doesn’t process that in time or possibly accurately.”

Gilmore said it could be years before the clinic knows how much money it could lose, but said current estimates are around 15% of their funding. Despite the possible loss, Dr. Foreman said the clinic will continue to provide essential services to the Upper Valley.

“Regardless of all the scary things you hear, our doors are open, and sunshine will see you regardless of your ability to pay,” Dr. Foreman said, “We have a sliding fee scale. We are going to provide all of the high-quality, evidence-based science-based health care that you deserve.”