In Alaska, it is estimated that health insurance in Alaska costs are about 20% higher than elsewhere in the country. This can prove especially difficult for small businesses and their employees, such as the case of one young man working for a restaurant. Seemingly a healthy 27 year old and working for a small business which could not afford the high cost of offering health insurance to its employees, when he found out he needed a heart valve surgery due to a genetic defect, the cost he faced was a staggering $200,000. Costs are being driven high by the roughly 15% of Alaskans without health insurance, including the 60,000 that actually have jobs but still do not have coverage. Palin’s efforts as governor there have failed to solve these problems. How do you think Obama’s proposed reforms will affect the state’s problems?