CSSB 231(HES): "An Act relating to physician assistants; providing coverage under Medicaid for the services of physician assistants; and reordering the priorities for Medicaid services."
00CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 231(HES) 01 "An Act relating to physician assistants; providing coverage under Medicaid for 02 the services of physician assistants; and reordering the priorities for Medicaid 03 services." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 21.36.090(d) is amended to read: 06 (d) Except to the extent necessary to comply with AS 21.42.365 and AS 21.56, 07 a person may not practice or permit unfair discrimination against a person who 08 provides a service covered under a group disability policy that extends coverage on an 09 expense incurred basis, or under a group service or indemnity type contract issued by 10 a nonprofit corporation, if the service is within the scope of the provider's occupational 11 license. In this subsection, "provider" means a state licensed physician, physician 12 assistant, dentist, osteopath, optometrist, chiropractor, nurse midwife, advanced nurse 13 practitioner, naturopath, physical therapist, occupational therapist, psychologist, 14 psychological associate, [OR] licensed clinical social worker, or certified direct-entry
01 midwife. 02 * Sec. 2. AS 23.30.265(24) is amended to read: 03 (24) "physician" includes doctors of medicine, surgeons, physician 04 assistants, chiropractors, osteopaths, dentists, and optometrists; 05 * Sec. 3. AS 47.07.030(b) is amended to read: 06 (b) In addition to the mandatory services specified in (a) of this section, the 07 department may offer only the following optional services: case management and 08 nutrition services for pregnant women; personal care services in a recipient's home; 09 emergency hospital services; long-term care noninstitutional services; medical supplies 10 and equipment; advanced nurse practitioner services; physician assistant services; 11 clinic services; rehabilitative services for substance abusers and emotionally disturbed 12 or chronically mentally ill adults; targeted case management services for substance 13 abusers, chronically mentally ill adults, and severely emotionally disturbed persons 14 under the age of 21; inpatient psychiatric facility services for individuals age 65 or 15 older and individuals under age 21; psychologists' services; clinical social workers' 16 services; midwife services; prescribed drugs; physical therapy; occupational therapy; 17 chiropractic services; low-dose mammography screening, as defined in 18 AS 21.42.375(e); hospice care; treatment of speech, hearing, and language disorders; 19 adult dental services; prosthetic devices and eyeglasses; optometrists' services; 20 intermediate care facility services, including intermediate care facility services for the 21 mentally retarded; skilled nursing facility services for individuals under age 21; and 22 reasonable transportation to and from the point of medical care. 23 * Sec. 4. AS 47.07.035 is amended to read: 24 Sec. 47.07.035. PRIORITY OF MEDICAL ASSISTANCE. If the department 25 finds that the cost of medical assistance for all persons eligible under this chapter will 26 exceed the amount allocated in the state budget for that assistance for the fiscal year, 27 the department shall eliminate coverage for optional medical services and optionally 28 eligible groups of individuals in the following order: 29 (1) midwife services; 30 (2) clinical social workers' services; 31 (3) psychologists' services;
01 (4) chiropractic services; 02 (5) physician assistant services; 03 (6) advanced nurse practitioner services; 04 (7) adult dental services; 05 (8) [(7)] emergency hospital services; 06 (9) [(8)] treatment of speech, hearing, and language disorders; 07 (10) [(9)] optometrists' services and eyeglasses; 08 (11) [(10)] occupational therapy; 09 (12) [(11)] mammography screening; 10 (13) [(12)] prosthetic devices; 11 (14) [(13)] medical supplies and equipment; 12 (15) [(14)] targeted case management services; 13 (16) [(15)] rehabilitative services for substance abusers and emotionally 14 disturbed or chronically mentally ill adults; 15 (17) [(16)] clinic services; 16 (18) [(17)] physical therapy; 17 (19) [(18)] personal care services in a recipient's home; 18 (20) [(19)] prescribed drugs; 19 (21) [(20)] hospice care; 20 (22) [(21) long-term care noninstitutional services; 21 (23) [(22)] inpatient psychiatric facility services; 22 (24) [(23)] intermediate care facility services for the mentally retarded; 23 (25) [(24)] intermediate care facility services; 24 (26) [(25)] individuals described in AS 47.07.020(b)(11); 25 (27) [(26)] individuals under age 21 who are not eligible for benefits 26 under the federal aid to families with dependent children program because they are not 27 deprived of one or more of their natural or adoptive parents; 28 (28) [(27)] skilled nursing facility services for persons under age 21; 29 (29) [(28)] aged, blind, and disabled individuals who, because they do 30 not meet the income requirements, do not receive supplemental security income under 31 Title XVI of the Social Security Act, but who are eligible, or would be eligible if they
01 were not in a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, to receive an 02 optional state supplementary payment; 03 (30) [(29)] individuals in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, or 04 intermediate care facility whose income while in the facility does not exceed 300 05 percent of the supplemental security income benefit rate under Title XVI of the Social 06 Security Act, but who, because of income, are not eligible for the optional state 07 supplementary payment; 08 (31) [(30)] individuals under age 21 under supervision of the 09 department [,] for whom maintenance is being paid in whole or in part from public 10 money and who are in foster homes or private child-care institutions; 11 (32) [(31)] individuals under age 21 who the department has determined 12 cannot be placed for adoption without medical assistance because of a special need for 13 medical or rehabilitative care and who the department has determined are hard-to-place 14 children eligible for subsidy under AS 25.23.190 - 25.23.220. 15 * Sec. 5. AS 47.07.900 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 16 (20) "physician assistant services" means services furnished by a person 17 who is registered as a physician assistant under AS 08.64.107 that are within the scope 18 of the person's registered authority.