HCS CSSCR 14(RLS) AM H: Establishing the Alaska Task Force on Parity for Mental Health.
00HCS FOR CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 14(RLS) am H 01 Establishing the Alaska Task Force on Parity for Mental Health. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS persons in Alaska with mental health disorders and their families face 04 disparity in the adequacy, scope, and coverage of private health insurance that they need; and 05 WHEREAS it is estimated that mental health disorders cost the Alaska economy 06 $187,272,000 in 1996 in lost productivity, absenteeism, disability, and early death; and 07 WHEREAS other states that have adopted insurance parity laws for mental disorders 08 have demonstrated that costs of parity have been far less than projected and that savings to 09 the public through decreased costs of Medicaid, Medicare, and other programs have far 10 outweighed the additional costs; and 11 WHEREAS the Alaska Mental Health Board estimates there are over 44,000 children, 12 youth, and adults in the state who experience serious mental illnesses and emotional disorders; 13 and 14 WHEREAS the Congress passed the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 that does
01 address parity for lifetime benefits and annual reimbursement limits for mental health services, 02 but does not address differentiation between mental and physical illnesses with respect to co- 03 payments, deductibles, and benefit design; and 04 WHEREAS 15 other states have established laws addressing mental health parity in 05 insurance practices, and 25 other states introduced bills on the subject in 1997; 06 BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Alaska Task Force on 07 Parity for Mental Health is established for the purpose of studying, after defining the terms 08 "mental disorders," "mental illness," "serious mental illness," "mental injury," and "mental 09 health consumers" for purpose of its work, 10 (1) differential treatment in health insurance coverage between a person with 11 a mental disorder and a person with a physical disorder; 12 (2) costs of mental health coverage in relation to other health care insurance, 13 with special emphasis on parity, and the extent of such coverage, including deductibles and 14 co-payments, disorders and conditions to be covered, and other pertinent issues; 15 (3) ways to define and quantify unmet mental health needs in the state and 16 recommending meaningful ways to measure the efficacy of treatment of mental health needs 17 by analyzing possible outcome data collection measures; 18 (4) the positive and negative effects on mental health consumers if parity for 19 mental health coverage is mandated in Alaska; 20 (5) the feasibility of implementing any recommendations of the task force 21 through legislation; and 22 (6) the effect of the September 30, 2001, sunset date for the Mental Health 23 Parity Act of 1996 on matters set out in (1) - (5) of this clause; and be it 24 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be composed of 11 members, as 25 follows: 26 (1) two members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate; one 27 member shall be a member of the majority, and one member shall be a member of the 28 minority; 29 (2) two members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker 30 of the House of Representatives; one member shall be a member of the majority, and one 31 member shall be a member of the minority;
01 (3) the commissioner of health and social services, or a designee; 02 (4) one member representing the Alaska Mental Health Board appointed by the 03 Alaska Mental Health Board; 04 (5) one member representing the state Advisory Board on Alcoholism and 05 Drug Abuse appointed by the state Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse; 06 (6) two members representing the insurance industry appointed by the President 07 of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives; one member may be the 08 director of insurance; and 09 (7) two members representing mental health consumers and community-based 10 mental health providers appointed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House 11 of Representatives; one member shall be a consumer, and one member shall be a provider; and 12 be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that no general fund money shall be expended to support 14 the task force; and be it 15 FURTHER RESOLVED that a simple majority of the members of the task force shall 16 constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and all actions of the task force shall 17 require the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force may conduct its work during the 19 legislative session and the interim between sessions, may use the teleconference network, and 20 may conduct public hearings to receive testimony about issues relative to parity for mental 21 health; and be it 22 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall provide to the Speaker of the House 23 of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Governor a report of its findings and 24 recommendations on these matters not later than January 1, 1999; and be it 25 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is terminated at 11:59 p.m. on 26 February 28, 1999.