Medicaid eligibility and enrollment in Alaska

The recommended way for most people to enroll in Medicaid in Alaska is online, through Healthcare.gov.⁶ But you can also enroll online through my.alaska.gov (click the link for “ARIES-Public Assistance”). You’ll need to create an account if you don’t already have one.

There is also an option to complete a paper application and submit it by mail or fax to a local office. Note Alaska uses a single application form for several programs; not all sections of the form are required to apply for Medicaid. Also, the form refers to a personal interview, which is NOT required for a Medicaid application.

Call a local office for enrollment assistance over the phone or to schedule an appointment for in-person assistance and enrollment. Both local and toll-free numbers are included on this contact list.

Many Medicare beneficiaries receive help through Medicaid with the cost of Medicare premiums, prescription drug expenses, and costs that aren’t covered by Medicare — such as long-term care.

Our guide to financial resources for Medicare enrollees in Alaska includes overviews of those programs, including Medicare Savings Programs, long-term care benefits, and income guidelines for assistance.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, states received additional federal Medicaid funding but could not disenroll anyone from Medicaid. The ban on disenrollments lasted from March 2020 through March 2023. States then had a 12-month “unwinding” period, during which they had to redetermine eligibility for everyone enrolled in Medicaid.

48,335 Alaska residents were disenrolled from Medicaid during the unwinding period, while coverage was renewed for 91,151 enrollees.⁷

People who lost their Alaska Medicaid had the option to transition to an employer’s plan or Medicare (if eligible), or to a private individual/family plan obtained via HealthCare.gov. CMS reported that 6,239 Alaska residents transitioned from Medicaid to Marketplace coverage during the unwinding period. ⁸

More than 264,000 people were covered under Alaska’s Medicaid and CHIP programs as of early 2023 (including those newly eligible due to Medicaid expansion, as well as those who were eligible under the prior guidelines). For perspective, total Medicaid/CHIP enrollment in Alaska at the end of July 2015 was 123,335. Two years earlier, in mid-late 2013, the total had been just 122,334; enrollment had grown very little prior to Medicaid expansion, but has grown considerably since then — due to Medicaid expansion as well as the COVID pandemic.

The ACA allowed for Medicaid expansion starting in January 2014. But Alaska was one of the states that initially resisted expansion and continued to use pre-ACA eligibility guidelines for Medicaid, leaving about 10,500 non-elderly adult Alaskans in the coverage gap according to a KFF analysis.

But Gov. Bill Walker (in office 2014 – 2018) took office Dec. 1, 2014, and expressed his commitment to Alaska Medicaid expansion in his first speech.

Walker’s administration hoped to launch Alaska’s Medicaid expansion by July 2015. However, technical problems with existing eligibility and payment systems were a barrier, and legislative support and funding presented additional challenges. Walker noted early on that he was willing to bypass the Legislature and authorize Medicaid expansion by executive order, but he tried various legislative avenues for Medicaid expansion during the first half of 2015.

With Alaska’s budget problem, triggered by the drop in oil prices, legislators warned that additional budget requests would be difficult or impossible to grant, and it’s no secret that Republican lawmakers in the state tend to be opposed to all things related to Obamacare. Lawmakers rejected the Medicaid expansion proposal that Walker included in his budget, and they didn’t vote on a bill that would have expanded Medicaid.

Ultimately, Governor Walker decided to expand Alaska Medicaid by executive order, and he announced his intent to do so on July 16. On July 21, the state health department hired a consultant to assist with the Medicaid expansion process and recommend how the state should proceed, both with expansion and with reforming the existing Medicaid program.

With Walker’s announcement, Alaska became the 30th state — 31st counting DC — to expand Medicaid (as of 2025, Medicaid has been expanded in 40 states and DC). Walker’s proposal to accept $150 million in federal funding for Medicaid expansion was sent to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee for their review, and the committee chair, Rep. Mike Hawker, gave a detailed account of how that process works. But Walker made it clear that he intended to proceed with Medicaid expansion regardless of the committee’s recommendation.

In August 2015, Republican lawmakers announced they were filing a lawsuit against Walker over his decision to expand Medicaid. Walker noted that the lawsuit would cost the state about a million dollars, and expressed disappointment that the legislature chose that course of action. Lawmakers requested that the scheduled September 1 start date for Medicaid expansion be postponed while the lawsuit made its way through the legal system, but on August 28, a judge denied their request. And on August 31, the Alaska Supreme Court came to the same conclusion, refusing to delay the implementation of Medicaid expansion.

So on September 1, 2015, thousands of Alaska residents became newly-eligible for Medicaid, and were able to start enrolling in the program. In March 2016, the GOP lawmakers’ case was dismissed in Superior Court. But in May 2016, the Alaska House of Representatives filed an appeal. However, the proverbial horse was already miles from the barn, given that Medicaid expansion had taken effect months earlier, and the House dropped their appeal in June 2016.

In September 2018, three years after Medicaid expansion took effect in Alaska, Governor Walker expressed his ongoing support for Medicaid expansion, and reiterated how Medicaid expansion has been a financial boon to Alaska.

Alaska’s Medicaid program is administered by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Division of Public Assistance (DPA).

The federal Medicaid program was established through Title XIX of the Social Security Act in 1965, with Alaska authorizing its program in September 1972.

While many states cover beneficiaries through Medicaid managed care, Alaska does not⁹ (the program does have a voluntary coordinated care initiative).

Alaska did not expand Medicaid until September 2015, but enrollment grew significantly after that. By June 2016, total enrollment was 28% higher than it had been at the end of 2013. And by December 2016, it was up 42% over where it had been in late 2013.

The COVID pandemic pushed Medicaid enrollment to record highs nationwide. In Alaska, total Medicaid enrollment was 115% higher by December 2022 than it had been in 2013. Even after the post-pandemic unwinding was completed (details above), enrollment in Alaska Medicaid was still 104% higher than it had been in 2013 — a far more significant increase than the 38% average nationwide.¹⁰

In the first three years, from the fall of 2015 to the fall of 2018, nearly $1 billion in federal funding flowed into Alaska’s health care industry as a result of Medicaid expansion.