Alaska is one of the hardest places in America to get a doctor, a hot meal in winter, or a reliable weather forecast before a deadly storm. On the measures we track — health, crime, food security, and more — Alaska ranks 37th out of 50. That's the ground Alaskans are already standing on.
Then Washington made it worse. The budget law that Republicans passed in 2025 cuts Medicaid, cuts food aid, and hands the savings to the wealthiest Americans as tax breaks. Alaska has exactly two Republicans in Congress — Senator Dan Sullivan and Representative Nick Begich — and both of them voted for it. Here's what that vote is costing you.
Medicaid: billions gone, thousands dropped
Alaska stands to lose an estimated $1.5–$2.5 billion in federal Medicaid funds over the next decade — an 11% cut. In a state where rural hospitals already run on the edge and villages can be hundreds of miles from the nearest clinic, that means fewer doctors, more strain on the hospitals that are left, and worse outcomes for families who already struggle to get care.
More than 9,000 Alaskans are projected to lose Medicaid coverage just because of the law's new work-reporting requirements, according to a report prepared for the Alaska Department of Health. And around 24,000 more Alaskans will see their health insurance costs jump 125% — an average increase of $1,836 a year.
That's not a spreadsheet line. That's a parent in Bethel or Kotzebue deciding whether they can afford to stay covered. Dan Sullivan and Nick Begich voted for the law that does it.
Food aid, in a state where 1 in 5 kids goes hungry
Here in Alaska, 1 in 5 kids faces hunger every day, and nearly 68,300 Alaskans receive SNAP benefits every month to put food on the table. Alaska is also one of the most expensive places in the country to buy groceries — a gallon of milk in a rural village can cost several times what it does in the Lower 48.
The same budget law both members backed slashes SNAP and shifts new costs onto the state. When you make it harder to qualify for food aid in a place where a bag of groceries already costs a fortune, the people who go without are kids, seniors, and working families.
DOGE bragged about the cuts. Alaska's fisheries and forecasts paid.
DOGE claims it "saved" Alaska more than $280 million — but look at what that number actually meant on the water and in the sky. Mass firings and budget cuts at NOAA reduced the services used to manage Alaska's fisheries — the backbone of the state's economy and the livelihood of thousands of Alaskans.
Worse, the cuts gutted weather data collection. When a deadly storm slammed western Alaska in October 2025, a lack of weather data caused by Trump's budget cuts degraded the forecast that villages depend on to get out of harm's way. On top of that, federal firings hit Alaska especially hard, and the state saw 67,000 layoffs in 2025.
Real jobs, real fish counts, and real storm warnings — traded away so Washington could brag about a savings number. Neither Sullivan nor Begich slowed any of it down.
Public safety, in the state with the highest violent crime rate
Alaska has the highest violent crime rate in the country, and it sits near the top for both its murder rate and its rate of firearm deaths. Alaskans need more support to keep their communities safe — more resources for law enforcement, mental health care, and prevention.
Instead, the same delegation that voted to cut Medicaid — which pays for much of the state's mental health and addiction treatment — keeps voting against the tools that could actually bring these numbers down. You can't say you're tough on crime while defunding the services that prevent it.
Who voted for this
These are the two members of Congress representing Alaska who voted for the budget law behind the Medicaid and SNAP cuts, and who stood by while DOGE tore through the state:
- Dan Sullivan — United States Senator
- Nick Begich — United States Representative
In 2026, Alaskans get to decide whether that's the representation they want. The numbers are already on the wall. The only question left is who answers for them — and whether Alaska sends back the same two people who voted to make it harder to see a doctor, feed a kid, and get a storm warning in time.
