SB 231: "An Act providing coverage under Medicaid for the services of physician assistants; and reordering the priorities for Medicaid services."
00SENATE BILL NO. 231 01 "An Act providing coverage under Medicaid for the services of physician 02 assistants; and reordering the priorities for Medicaid services." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 47.07.030(b) is amended to read: 05 (b) In addition to the mandatory services specified in (a) of this section, the 06 department may offer only the following optional services: case management and 07 nutrition services for pregnant women; personal care services in a recipient's home; 08 emergency hospital services; long-term care noninstitutional services; medical supplies 09 and equipment; advanced nurse practitioner services; physician assistant services; 10 clinic services; rehabilitative services for substance abusers and emotionally disturbed 11 or chronically mentally ill adults; targeted case management services for substance 12 abusers, chronically mentally ill adults, and severely emotionally disturbed persons 13 under the age of 21; inpatient psychiatric facility services for individuals age 65 or 14 older and individuals under age 21; psychologists' services; clinical social workers'
01 services; midwife services; prescribed drugs; physical therapy; occupational therapy; 02 chiropractic services; low-dose mammography screening, as defined in 03 AS 21.42.375(e); hospice care; treatment of speech, hearing, and language disorders; 04 adult dental services; prosthetic devices and eyeglasses; optometrists' services; 05 intermediate care facility services, including intermediate care facility services for the 06 mentally retarded; skilled nursing facility services for individuals under age 21; and 07 reasonable transportation to and from the point of medical care. 08 * Sec. 2. AS 47.07.035 is amended to read: 09 Sec. 47.07.035. PRIORITY OF MEDICAL ASSISTANCE. If the department 10 finds that the cost of medical assistance for all persons eligible under this chapter will 11 exceed the amount allocated in the state budget for that assistance for the fiscal year, 12 the department shall eliminate coverage for optional medical services and optionally 13 eligible groups of individuals in the following order: 14 (1) midwife services; 15 (2) clinical social workers' services; 16 (3) psychologists' services; 17 (4) chiropractic services; 18 (5) physician assistant services; 19 (6) advanced nurse practitioner services; 20 (7) adult dental services; 21 (8) [(7)] emergency hospital services; 22 (9) [(8)] treatment of speech, hearing, and language disorders; 23 (10) [(9)] optometrists' services and eyeglasses; 24 (11) [(10)] occupational therapy; 25 (12) [(11)] mammography screening; 26 (13) [(12)] prosthetic devices; 27 (14) [(13)] medical supplies and equipment; 28 (15) [(14)] targeted case management services; 29 (16) [(15)] rehabilitative services for substance abusers and emotionally 30 disturbed or chronically mentally ill adults; 31 (17) [(16)] clinic services;
01 (18) [(17)] physical therapy; 02 (19) [(18)] personal care services in a recipient's home; 03 (20) [(19)] prescribed drugs; 04 (21) [(20)] hospice care; 05 (22) [(21) long-term care noninstitutional services; 06 (23) [(22)] inpatient psychiatric facility services; 07 (24) [(23)] intermediate care facility services for the mentally retarded; 08 (25) [(24)] intermediate care facility services; 09 (26) [(25)] individuals described in AS 47.07.020(b)(11); 10 (27) [(26)] individuals under age 21 who are not eligible for benefits 11 under the federal aid to families with dependent children program because they are not 12 deprived of one or more of their natural or adoptive parents; 13 (28) [(27)] skilled nursing facility services for persons under age 21; 14 (29) [(28)] aged, blind, and disabled individuals who, because they do 15 not meet the income requirements, do not receive supplemental security income under 16 Title XVI of the Social Security Act, but who are eligible, or would be eligible if they 17 were not in a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, to receive an 18 optional state supplementary payment; 19 (30) [(29)] individuals in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, or 20 intermediate care facility whose income while in the facility does not exceed 300 21 percent of the supplemental security income benefit rate under Title XVI of the Social 22 Security Act, but who, because of income, are not eligible for the optional state 23 supplementary payment; 24 (31) [(30)] individuals under age 21 under supervision of the 25 department [,] for whom maintenance is being paid in whole or in part from public 26 money and who are in foster homes or private child-care institutions; 27 (32) [(31)] individuals under age 21 who the department has determined 28 cannot be placed for adoption without medical assistance because of a special need for 29 medical or rehabilitative care and who the department has determined are hard-to-place 30 children eligible for subsidy under AS 25.23.190 - 25.23.220. 31 * Sec. 3. AS 47.07.900 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:
01 (20) "physician assistant services" means services furnished by a person 02 who is registered as a physician assistant under AS 08.64.107 that are within the scope 03 of the person's registered authority.