CSSCR 11(FIN): Creating the Long-Term Care Task Force.
00CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 11(FIN) 01 Creating the Long-Term Care Task Force. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS the establishment of a system to meet the long-term care needs of aging 04 Alaskans is an important issue not only for elderly persons but also for young and middle- 05 aged Alaskans as they attempt to meet the needs of their parents at the same time that they 06 are facing their own and their children's needs; and 07 WHEREAS the cost of long-term care, whether in a home setting or in an institution, 08 often exceeds an individual's ability to pay for the care either immediately or after a short 09 period of time, causing extreme economic and social stress and hardship for many people who 10 have worked hard for many years and still do not have sufficient assets or income to bear the 11 costs of their care; and 12 WHEREAS residents in a Pioneers' Home have been asked to pay the full cost of 13 their long-term care within seven years, resulting in as much as a 30 percent increase this year 14 in some rates for care in the system; and
01 WHEREAS 80 percent of the cost of care for persons now receiving long-term care 02 in privately operated long-term care facilities is paid through state and federal funds under the 03 Medicaid program; and 04 WHEREAS current federal and state long-term care policies of the state have resulted 05 in large subsidies from the state's general fund that will increase in the future, competing with 06 funding for other state programs; and 07 WHEREAS the legislature established a working group in 1996 to analyze issues 08 regarding long-term care services in the state, including projected costs to the state of various 09 alternative methods of providing long-term care; 10 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature establishes the Long-Term Care 11 Task Force to develop an equitable plan for providing long-term care for all Alaskans; and 12 be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall consist of the following nine voting 14 members: 15 (1) three members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker 16 of the House of Representatives; at least one member shall be a member of the majority and 17 at least one a member of the minority; 18 (2) three members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate; at 19 least one member shall be a member of the majority and at least one a member of the 20 minority; 21 (3) three members of the public, one each chosen by the Governor, the Speaker 22 of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate, from among people who are 23 receiving long-term care, have relatives who are receiving long-term care, are from an 24 organization that represents the interests of people in need of long-term care, are health care 25 providers whose services include long-term care, or have had experience with an Alaska 26 Native organization that delivers long-term care services in a rural area of the state; and be 27 it 28 FURTHER RESOLVED that the following persons may serve on the task force as 29 nonvoting members: 30 (1) the commissioner of health and social services or the commissioner's 31 designee;
01 (2) the commissioner of commerce and economic development or the 02 commissioner's designee; and 03 (3) the commissioner of administration or the commissioner's designee; and 04 be it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the public members of the task force shall serve without 06 compensation but are entitled to per diem and travel expenses authorized for boards and 07 commissions under AS 39.20.180; and be it 08 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall select a chair and vice-chair from 09 among its voting members, shall meet as frequently as the task force determines necessary to 10 perform its work, may meet during the interim, and may meet and vote by teleconference; and 11 be it 12 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall 13 (1) review the work done and the recommendations made by the long-term 14 care working group established under sec. 3, ch. 84, SLA 1996, if available; 15 (2) review existing elder care services in Alaska, including rural Alaska, 16 including the current types of delivered care and the projected future care demands; 17 (3) review the existing Pioneers' Home system, its current types of delivered 18 care, and its projected future care demands, and craft a mission statement for the Pioneers' 19 Home system to set goals to meet long-term senior care needs; 20 (4) prepare a plan, including drafts of legislation that might be necessary to 21 implement the plan, for establishment of an actuarially sound system of long-term care and 22 propose funding options, including options that would allow prepayments by persons desiring 23 coverage for long-term care and require reasonable copayments by the recipients of the care; 24 (5) hold public hearings on the plan, legislation, and funding proposals 25 developed under (4) of this clause; 26 (6) redraft the plan, legislation, and funding proposals based on the comments 27 received at the public hearings and other information that becomes available to the task force; 28 the final plan, with proposed legislation and funding options, shall be available for public 29 review at least 30 days before the convening of the First Regular Session of the Twenty-First 30 Alaska State Legislature; and 31 (7) submit the plan, proposed legislation, and funding options to the Governor
01 and the legislature by the convening of the First Regular Session of the Twenty-First Alaska 02 State Legislature; and be it 03 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force may begin work immediately upon the 04 appointment of its full voting membership and is terminated upon the convening of the First 05 Regular Session of the Twenty-First Alaska State Legislature.