Borough Mayor Mike Navarre released more details about the plan to establish a Borough Health Care Task Force within the next 60 days.
We asked Navarre what kinds of people he anticipates being enlisted to the task force.
Mayor Navarre: “Well certainly there will be some medical providers, doctors probably some nurses probably therapists or other types of providers like mental health providers, chiropractors, hospital service area boards and hospital inc. boards and then business members from the Chamber of Commerce, maybe from the Cities. I’ve asked Dr. Anderson who just happens to be Mayor of Soldotna to be on the task force so you get two fro one there, he’s a doctor and the Mayor of Soldotna.”
Navarre said the reason for the task force is due to the ever increasing expenses spent by the Borough on health care every year.
Mayor Navarre: “I think its important just because of the sheer size of the expenditures that are made in health care on the Kenai Peninsula and just for perspective its about $800,000,000 a year. The total Borough budget for school district for road maintenance for solid waste for general government for tax collection for everything, is $200,000,000 a year. When you put it in that kind of perspective, the cost of health care is extraordinary and then when you look at it in even smaller terms like the cost of public employee health care for the Kenai Borough and the school district, its $28,000,000 on an annual basis.”
The mayor explained the he has hopes to establish this task force within the next 60 days to allow time to get something on the October ballot.