Legislature(2011 - 2012)Anch LIO Rm 220
10/13/2011 09:00 AM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Hearing on Denali Kidcare | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
^Hearing on Denali KidCare
DENALI KIDCARE
9:12:54 AM
CHAIR DAVIS said the committee is meeting because of SB 5
(currently in Senate Rules) that made it to the Senate floor
last session, but didn't have the votes to move out. The reason
she is having the hearing is to inform the public of the dilemma
and try to come up with some solutions.
JON SHERWOOD, Medicaid Special Projects, Department of Health
and Social Services (DHSS), said Denali KidCare (DKC) provides
health care for children and pregnant women in Alaska through
the Medicaid program. It provides coverage to individuals up to
175 percent of the poverty level and, unlike many kinds of
categories of eligibility for Medicare, it has no asset test.
Generically, the categories included in DKC are sometimes called
poverty level Medicaid because those income standards are tied
to the poverty level standards.
He said one of the unique aspects of DKC is that it includes a
component of higher income children without insurance (Medicaid
Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expansion). He explained
that states have the option to have a separate program, a
Medicaid expansion or a combination of the two and Alaska has
chosen to have a Medicaid expansion. The significance of CHIP is
that it comes with enhanced funding; the current federal match
rate is 65 percent as opposed to 50 percent for the regular
Medicaid match.
MR. SHERWOOD said the program provides a wide range of services
to children: primary care, acute care and many kinds of
supportive care. It has the federally mandated early periodic
screening diagnosis and treatment, which basically says if a
child is diagnosed with a condition that can be treated under
Medicaid the state has to provide that treatment. It covers all
the pregnancy services for pregnant women and the other services
that are available to adults in the Medicaid program.
9:16:56 AM
ILONA JOHNSON, Eligibility Office Manager I, Denali KidCare,
Division of Public Assistance, Department of Health and Social
Services (DHSS), said she has 23 eligibility technician IIs, 2
eligibility technician IIIs, a supervisor, a clerical supervisor
plus 10 clerical staff. She said she has an office assistant I
(entry level clerical position) and an office assistant II that
is tasked with doing pregnant women Medicaid. She said her staff
has journey-level experience and a PCN position is currently
being changed to an eligibility technician IV, which is a
supervisor, and that will be added to DKC. She said her staff is
"very experienced in this program."
MS. JOHNSON related that eligibility is strictly determined on
the basis of state and federal guidelines and the law primarily
looking at income and household composition. Currently they
serve 23,000 families and more individual clients, the
statistics of which are available online.
The division is quite busy and uses the new "lean approach;"
their turnaround time for an application is now within 8 days;
for pregnant women on Medicaid have a priority and turnaround is
within 5 days. She said quite often someone comes in with a
child that has an emergency medical condition and they
"absolutely stop everything" to work that application. She was
proud of the work being done in both areas.
MS. JOHNSON said they currently have an eligibility technician
sitting in the lobby area so anyone coming in with an emergency
or with a complete application will get "worked" right there.
This is part of a new process to get applications through faster
and more efficiently.
9:22:32 AM
CHAIR DAVIS asked the total number of clients she has on DKC.
She noted that she heard a number of around 10,000 and asked if
that included pregnant women.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that August data indicated that over 10,000
children were in the CHIP category for which enhanced funding
could be claimed. A little over 40,000 children are in all of
the DKC categories and about 3,100 pregnant women. The 10,000
CHIP children are included in the 40,000 figure; about three-
quarters of the children fall under regular Medicaid and one-
quarter get the enhanced CHIP funding. In the month of August
about 35,000 other children were in other kinds of Medicaid
categories throughout the state.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if they have a waiting list for people who
might qualify for the enhanced program.
MR. SHERWOOD replied no; it's a Medicaid expansion and an
entitlement. She explained that some states have separate CHIP
programs that aren't Medicaid expansions and they are allowed to
have waiting lists and do cut-off enrollment at a certain point
if they meet their target numbers.
9:25:09 AM
CHAIR DAVIS asked if everything statewide ends up in the
Anchorage office.
MS. JOHNSON answered yes.
9:27:54 AM
DR. ILONA FARR, representing herself, said she grew up in Alaska
and has been practicing here for 25 years. She thanked the
committee for their service and expressed the view that their
hearts were in the right place with this bill, but said she
disagreed with it for a couple of reasons. She said she would
run through those and then propose better solutions.
Basically, she disagreed with taking health dollars away from
senior citizens on Medicare because that is how this Medicaid
expansion is being funded. It takes $500 billion away from
Medicare and uses it to increase Medicaid. She didn't think it
was right to take dollars away from senior citizens that are at
the end of their lives and have no potential for earning and
giving it to young people that do have that potential.
Second, physicians take the Hippocratic Oath which prevents them
from giving a woman abortive remedy and, further, tax dollars
should not pay for any procedure that kills the future children
of Alaska.
DR. FARR said she thought the DKC income limits were extremely
high and for a family of five the 2011 guideline is more than
she made in her first 19 years of practicing medicine! If she
could do it, so could others. In her practice she has seen
people gaming the system by deliberately being underemployed or
becoming low income to qualify for Medicaid. One of the things
that made her chose to opt out of the system was seeing people
fly up here from other states to take advantage of Medicaid and
then leaving the state after they were done getting their
services.
A national study estimated a cost of $15,000 per family for
private insurance and that will increase by 25-85 percent over
the next few years as ACA is instituted. Part of this is because
the more mandates there are the more insurance will cost. So, a
lot more people will not be able to afford insurance. That is
why some solutions are needed not only for the 175 to 200
percent of poverty level issue, but for a wider variety of
Alaskans.
DR. FARR said she was also concerned that the program is
unsustainable because of the state's declining oil revenues and
she would prefer a program that is more sustainable and would
cover a lot more individuals. Right now the budget for Medicaid
and Medicaid-related services is over $1.7 billion; this is
close to the total annual budget of a lot of states.
She said the ACA and stimulus bill are creating entities that
are producing guidelines that will actually restrict care for
individuals. One of her pet peeves is that mammograms for women
under the age of 50 will not be permitted, but 50 percent of her
breast cancer patients were diagnosed under the age of 50 and
the last three men she diagnosed with prostate cancer were all
under the age of 50, as well.
9:31:08 AM
She said one of her ideas is to have middle income women and
children put their PFDs directly into a health care savings
account using a "VISA like system," because VISA has much less
fraud than Medicare and Medicaid.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if she was talking about solutions other than
DKC increasing to 200 percent.
DR. FARR answered yes.
CHAIR DAVIS asked her to submit that in writing, so the
committee could continue hearing testimony on the issue before
it.
9:32:23 AM
KAREN PERDUE, CEO and President, Alaska State Hospital and
Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA), Anchorage, said her
background includes a long history with DKC; she was the
commissioner of DHSS and the deputy commissioner in charge of
Medicaid for a long time and watched the evolution of the
state's coverage of pregnant women and children from
categorically eligible (parents needing to be stuck in poverty
and on "welfare" in order for their children to get health care)
to this concept of the State Children's Health Insurance Program
(SCHIP), which is really about working parents and allowing them
to access coverage just for their children. They may get
coverage through their employer for their own care, but often
don't have access to dependent coverage. She said this large
national bipartisan debate, led by Ted Kennedy and Orin Hatch,
occurred almost a decade ago when it established the SCHIP
program with the funds from the tobacco settlement. Alaska
adopted the SCHIP program as a bipartisan measure and it is
called Denali KidCare.
She said that DKC enjoys wide support among legislators,
families and providers and the last time she looked Alaska had
6,000 medical providers enrolled in Medicaid along with every
single hospital and nursing home. While some providers chose to
limit what they do with regards to their family practice,
doctors in general actively use Medicaid and she knows that most
hospitals in the state actively use it, too.
MS. PERDUE asked for and was given indulgence to explain how the
SCHIP program fits into the children's coverage. She said the
notion that Medicaid covers only seniors and disabled people is
a misperception; it has always been an active children's program
and at least half of the people on Medicaid today in Alaska are
children. It covers seniors and disabled people because their
help is very expensive per unit of service and they can't often
get their insurance in other ways. Children, on the other hand,
are extremely cheap to cover especially when compared to the
needs of seniors and the disabled.
Last year the Division of Legislative Finance found that 60,000
children under age 21 received physician services from Medicaid
for a total of $47 million, an average cost of $788 per
recipient. The average children's cost per unit of service was
brought up by the inpatient hospital care primarily for 8,600
neonatal children at about $11,000 per child. But some children
cost more than $1 million.
MS. PURDUE said her point is that while parents can cover the
$788 cost in one year if that's all that is wrong with their
children or they are getting preventative care, if their child
is born with an anomaly or if there is a traumatic event, it can
bankrupt a family. So, it's really an insurance program and that
is why it was founded, because kids are generally cheap and
usually families can keep up with preventative care, especially
at the higher income levels, but if a horrible thing happens, it
can keep a family from going bankrupt.
She said the SCHIP program that Alaska has was set up as a very
efficient government service and is a model in the nation. You
do not stand in a line or get put on hold. You can work over the
Internet to get your help and it's even gotten better over the
years. The state has even received awards for its service.
Future things should be modeled on this "lean approach."
MS. PERDUE said because of some unique characteristics of the
population, the state has minimized its investment in this area
and said that the federal government contributes 60 percent for
Medicaid, but about 70 percent for DKC. That means that for
every dollar that is spent, 70 cents comes from the federal
government. This is because the tribal children that are covered
have been integrated into the system. Native American children
are getting the care they are entitled to by the federal
government and using DKC, but the federal government is paying
the whole bill. This is a very efficient system in this regard.
9:40:21 AM
MS. PERDUE said that many states are cutting back on Medicaid
and it's a very difficult time for health providers and people
planning their senior retirement, but virtually no state is
cutting children's health care. They may be cutting provider
rates or changing utilization, but they are not cutting off
children.
She said ASHNHA has supported DKC for more than a decade, but
hospitals and nursing homes are not going to get most of the
benefit as a provider group. Most of these kids are not going to
be in hospitals; for the most part babies are going home and
getting preventative services and ASHNHA sees part of its
mission is to support the overall health of the State of Alaska.
MS. PERDUE said the state has reasons to decide on this matter
once and for all this year. She said there are possibly other
times when it would be advantageous for Alaska to have this
expansion in moving toward more block granting approaches or
blending the match rate, but this is a major window for making
this kind of decision in the affirmative.
She said when DKC first passed it was almost entirely bipartisan
and prior to being vetoed her records show that it passed the
Senate by a vote of 15 to 4 and the House by 37 to 3. She
suggested that it might be time to establish a waiting list so
they know what the true need is and said there is always someone
outside of the level.
9:44:44 AM
SARAH WEBER, DKC recipient, said she and her husband are both
born and raised Alaskans and have four children. They are a
working family and have been on DKC mostly for preventative and
prenatal care as a supplement to their primary health insurance
through her husband's employer. Unfortunately, it would cost
almost 30 percent of their take-home pay to insure all of their
children with a $5,000 deductible per person. She related how
her first four children have had the normal medical
expenditures, but the seemingly healthy child that was born last
October was diagnosed with stage four of a rare form of cancer
six months ago. Infants don't get treated for it here. Because
they have DKC treatment that never stopped, they were able to
fly her to Portland within 36 hours of her diagnosis where she
received care from a team of specialists that work specifically
with this type of cancer. She is now home and can receive six
out of her eight chemotherapy treatments at Providence Hospital.
MS. WEBER said her child's monthly medical needs are on average
about three times her family's earnings and without this
coverage her child's care would have been delayed and she
probably would have died. She said before her child was born her
family bounced around $150 a month from not qualifying.
9:51:26 AM
SENATOR MEYER joined the committee.
9:51:35 AM
DAVID MESUO, former DKC employee, said he is one of the original
DKC technicians that started the program in 1998. He truly
believed it to be one of the finest programs that Alaska has to
offer its children. A pregnant woman under DKC is seen right
away by a physician and seen through her pregnancy and the baby
is taken care of at birth for one full year. People might think
that's a lot of money, but it's nothing compared to a mother who
has a baby but has never seen a doctor until the very day she
has her baby. Children are covered up to the age of 19 and then
DKC ends, but by that time they are ready to go out into the
world.
He supported having DKC at the 200 percent level whether the
parents have insurance or not. It doesn't cost that much
compared to sending a child to the emergency room because the he
has a cold.
9:59:03 AM
WALTER MAJOROS, Executive Director, Juneau Youth Services,
Juneau, said they provide mental health and substance abuse
services to kids ages 3-21, many of whom are victims of
significant child abuse and other forms of trauma and involved
in state custody. They serve over 500 youth and families a year
from all over the state. They are very supportive of SB 5
increasing the eligibility for DKC from 175 percent to 200
percent of the federal poverty level, the level that was
established when the program was first created in 1997. He said
Alaska is now one of only four states in the country with an
eligibility level that is below 200 percent and that 25 states
have set that bar at 250 percent or higher.
The latest data he has read says there are over 24,000 uninsured
children in Alaska and raising the eligibility to 200 percent
would allow for 1,300 of these uninsured youth to receive
coverage. He emphasized that DKC is one of the main ways for
children with mental health and substance abuse issues to access
services. Over 83 percent who receive mental health and
substance abuse services at Juneau Youth Services are funded
through DKC and other forms of Medicaid.
10:02:57 AM
MR. MAJOROS said the important message is that this is the
primary way kids in the State of Alaska access mental health and
substance abuse services and the earlier these services are
provided the greater the chance of avoiding longer term problems
and more intensive care. Research has shown that children
without health care coverage are four times more liable to use
expensive emergency care. JYC wants to provide more efficient,
less intensive community based services and more prevention and
early intervention services so kids don't need high end services
later on. He said the DKC also makes sense financially, because
approximately 70 percent of the costs are paid through federal
Medicaid matching funds.
10:04:16 AM
JUNE SOBOCINSKI, Vice President, Community Action, United Way of
Anchorage, Anchorage, said they have several goals and the
potential passage of this increase in DKC would certainly
contribute to all of them. The first is that kids enter school
ready and that they go on to graduate from high school and
college career ready, that families are financially stable and
that individuals in Anchorage have access to health care.
MS. SOBOCINSKI said last year 100 percent of the 50 agencies she
works with agreed to collaborate to lobby on behalf of passage
of this bill and pooled resources to do so. This says something!
She urged the legislature to pass SB 5 again, since it passed it
last year. She related that for a brief time when she and her
husband were transitioning from homes and jobs, she and her son
were uninsured and she lived with terrible anxiety during that
time because she knew that any serious accident or unexpected
illness could have been their complete financial ruin - and she
cannot imagine not responding to the health needs of her child.
Yet this is exactly what they have imposed on 1,300 children and
their families in failing to pass this last year.
10:07:34 AM
She related that last year the one thing that terminated the
possibility of health insurance for these children was the
question of abortion and she suggested that they engage that
question, but apart from this bill "which is about the health of
children we already have." Look for the appropriate context in
which to grapple with that question and hold harmless the 1,300
children and 300 pregnant women.
10:08:33 AM
At ease from 10:08:33 AM to 10:20:08 AM.
10:20:08 AM
CLOVER SIMON said she is a Masters level Social Worker and a
board member of National Association of Social Workers, Alaska
Chapter, and was speaking on their behalf. They work all across
the state and provide the majority of its mental health services
and work in hospitals, social service agencies, home health
agencies, court and schools for the military and private
corporations. She said "social work" by definition is a
profession that prides itself in standing up for others and to
that end they support increasing the eligibility for DKC to 200
percent of the federal poverty level.
She said simply that many parents cannot afford health insurance
as others have testified, but basically uninsured low-income
children are also four times as likely to rely on emergency
departments and have no regular source of care. This extends to
the mental health and behavioral issues that some children face
in the state.
The delay in seeking care sends the kids who are on the edge of
eligibility that would benefit from routine behavioral and
mental health screenings to residential care. These costs are
huge and could be avoided if these kids had access to screening
prior to the crisis ensuing in their family.
10:22:10 AM
She said a conference of over 200 social workers was going on
right now and unfortunately they couldn't all be here but asked
them to imagine her multiplied by 200 in support of DKC.
10:22:36 AM
PAT LUBY, Advocacy Director, AARP Alaska, said they support SB
5. He said AARP is the world's largest organization of
grandparents and they are concerned about everyone's
grandchildren. Many members over 65 have the luxury of having
health security because they are old enough to be on Medicare
and they think Alaska's children and pregnant women should have
the same health security.
They believe a healthy future for Alaska's children is something
that all should be able to agree on. Mr. Luby said 5,500 Alaskan
grandparents are raising over 8,200 grandchildren; many of these
people are on Medicare themselves and they have no way to insure
those grandchildren unless they can get them onto DKC. It's
critical simply for that large number of people who are raising
their grandkids.
He also mentioned that when Dr. Farr testified about how money
was taken away from Medicare to transfer into Medicaid and the
children's health insurance program, AARP supported taking $500
million out of the Medicare program. That money was all
earmarked for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Advantage and none
of those policies were sold in Alaska. Medicare Advantage was
supported by the regular Medicare beneficiaries and it paid for
things like eye glasses, hearing aids, some preventive health
care, and even gym memberships. AARP did not think that normal
regular Medicare beneficiaries should have to support those
advantages for other people and supported taking that away from
the federal program.
10:25:42 AM
VALERIE DAVIDSON, Senior Director, Legal and Intergovernmental
Affairs, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Bethel, said
they support SB 5. Alaska is one of the few states that doesn't
use 200 percent of the federal poverty level for eligibility for
DKC. She underscored that we all love our children wherever we
live and Alaskan Native families want what every family wants -
their children to be healthy, happy and to live in safe
communities. Alaska's children deserve the best and with the
resources we have, Alaska should be among the best states not
among the worst.
For people living in rural Alaska, DKC provides travel benefits
that really make the difference for getting basic access to
health care they wouldn't otherwise have. She related how milk
in Bethel is $9/gal when it's on sale and heating oil and
gasoline are over $6/gal; a 40 minute plane ride costs $300 for
a round-trip ticket. The average village size is 300 to 350
people. The tribal health system is for all intents and purposes
the public health system in much of Alaska. There is no other
state presence in the small communities whether you are Alaskan
Native or not for basic or emergency health care.
10:28:50 AM
MS. DAVIDSON said many of the services that are covered by DKC
include dental and vision services and higher skilled behavior
health services that are not available in villages of 300 to 350
people. Those services are available at sub-regional clinics of
the regional hospital and most families cannot afford a $300
plane ticket to get to the next community. Without roads,
driving isn't an option.
She said 25 percent of Alaska Native communities who live in
rural communities have dental carries. Most kids have dental
carries, which means 25 percent of those kids have untreated
cavities. So, they started a dental health aid therapy program,
a mid-level dental practice, and 20 certified people are now
providing care. With about 200 villages more than 20 people are
needed. It's important for the committee to understand that for
people in rural Alaska it's the dental and optometry and
behavioral health services that makes the difference. It's the
same as a person living in Anchorage needing to go to Seattle
because those services aren't available there.
10:30:57 AM
MS. DAVIDSON said it is important to remember that federal CHIP
dollars are allocated by state and if a state doesn't use theirs
it gets redistributed to other states. If Alaska doesn't use its
allocation it will go to other states, which means we would be
subsidizing children in other states when so many of ours are
not covered and deserve access to care. She said she has learned
that it's never too late to do the right thing and we all make
mistakes which lowering the eligibility is, but we have the
opportunity to turn it around. Sometimes doing the right thing
is hard, but it won't get done otherwise. She concluded by
urging them to put Alaska among the best in treating Alaska's
children, not the worst.
10:33:22 AM
KIME MCCLINTOCK, field organizer, Planned Parenthood, said they
see the benefits of preventative health care every day. Many of
their patients are uninsured and come to them for their
reproductive health care because they can't be seen by a private
physician.
Planned Parenthood in Alaska today is advocating for increasing
DKC eligibility to 200 percent of the federal poverty level and
said, "Our children are our future and we need to insure that
they are given every chance to reach their full potential." This
means giving pregnant women access to essential prenatal care
and making sure every child has a doctor so they can get basic
preventative care to avoid expensive emergency room visits.
MS. MCCLINTOCK said in this economy especially many working
families can't afford health insurance. By not raising the
eligibility level they are forcing parents to choose between one
basic necessity and another. Additionally, they are tired of
seeing Alaska's children falling behind in our country; 44 other
states provide coverage at 200 percent or above and 19 of them
provide coverage at 300 percent or above. Alaska is one of the
four states that cover pregnant women and children under 200
percent of the federal poverty level.
She added that increasing the proportion of pregnancies that are
wanted and welcomed by both parents helps reduce child poverty
and income disparities, improves over-all family well-being and
reduces taxpayer costs. Until comprehensive family planning
services are affordable to all women, abortion will continue to
be a legal option for women facing an unplanned and unwanted
pregnancy. In Alaska, that right extends to poor women, as well.
10:37:36 AM
MARY SULLIVAN, Alaska Primary Care Association, said because
health insurance coverage is a key component related to health
care access, the Association supports SB 5 and extending
eligibility for DKC to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
It would benefit not only their members, but all the children of
Alaska. The need for care is rising as evidenced by over 24,000
children 18 years old or younger in 2009 that are uninsured in
Alaska, 12 percent of our 0-18 population. Nation-wide only 10
percent of this demographic is uninsured; so this makes Alaska a
leader of uninsured children.
She explained that children from low income families do not have
appropriate health care access due to lack of coverage and the
cost of premiums in relation to family budget. Although most
uninsured children live in a family that has at least one
working parent, the average total cost of family coverage in a
private group health insurance plan is now approximately $12,000
to $15,000 a year. This means for a family with moderate income
whose employer contributes less than a very substantial portion
of their cost of insurance coverage may be well beyond the
family's reach even though they are working very hard. A $12,000
premium would consume more than one-fourth of the total annual
income of a family of three at 250 percent of the federal
poverty level. Additionally, parents working for firms that
don't offer family coverage or who are not eligible for
employer-based coverage or who are self-employed face similar
challenges in providing coverage to their children.
MS. SULLIVAN said even though DKC upper income eligibility
guidelines is at 175 percent of the federal poverty level, the
fact that 46 percent of Alaska's children live at or below 200
percent of the federal poverty level as compared to 40.6 percent
nation-wide and 39 percent in Health Resources and Services
Administration's (HRSA) regional 10. This indicates that Alaska
has more children in the 175 to 200 percent federal poverty
range per capita than most other states. Covering these children
not only benefits hard-working, low-income families but also
society at large.
She stated that having access to health care is not just for
primary care, but for behavioral health care services, too.
Alaska has seen a 31 percent decline in the total number of
children covered by private health insurance in the past decade
and the cost of caring for uninsured children is passed on to
other Alaskans, to businesses raising premiums and out-of-pocket
expenses for everyone. This cost to society can be captured not
just in transferred out-of-pocket of expenses but also in the
decreased public health overall. For example, uninsured children
are nine times less likely to have a regular doctor, four times
more likely to be taken to emergency rooms and 25 percent more
likely to miss school than uninsured children. This lack of
access to primary care puts these children at increased risk for
other social challenges such as educational attainment and may
further exacerbate existing behavioral health challenges or be a
factor in developing behavioral health problems such as
increased risk for suicide, depression, substance abuse or later
criminal activities.
MS. SULLIVAN said the long-term impacts and risk factors
associated with lack of access to health care for children are
too costly for our society. The uninsured are also much less
likely to receive preventive services including immunizations,
dental and vision care. Saving the lives of children is the most
pro-life thing they can do and that's what this bill does.
10:45:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK said it's obvious that the money spent today
on prenatal health care and early lives of children really
benefits the State of Alaska down the road. It's probably one of
the best investments they can continue making.
10:46:25 AM
RAY WARD, representing himself, said he represents newcomers to
Alaska primarily Laotian, Hmong, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian and
Malaysian; many are new to this culture and new to the language.
Many families are low income and have many children; most of
those who do have jobs make a minimum wage and don't qualify for
insurance. He said SB 5 would help many families qualify to get
adequate medical care for themselves and their children.
MR. WARD related that he is on social security disability at
$1500 a month; that makes him $67 dollars over the limit of
being able to qualify for food stamps, Medicaid or for any other
assistance.
10:49:38 AM
ELISABETH RIPLEY, Executive Director, Mat-Su Health Foundation,
Wasilla, said their mission is to improve the health and
wellness of Alaskans living in Mat-Su. Their goal is to become
the healthiest borough in the state and have four strategies to
reach it. One is to reduce barriers to health care access. Lack
of health insurance is one of those barriers. In 2007, of the
22,991 children in Mat-Su, approximately 6.5 percent or 1,499
were uninsured. However, 650 of these children fell below 200
percent of the federal poverty level. Ironically, the rate for
uninsured children is higher the closer they get to the federal
poverty level. Whereas the overall uninsured rate of children in
Mat-Su was 6.5 percent, the rate for children at or below the
200 percent federal poverty level was 20.4 percent in 2007.
Since Alaska has decreased the eligibility for DKC, the rate of
uninsured children within or close to the poverty level has
grown each year by 1 or 2 percentage points and Alaska has seen
a 31 percent decline in the number of children covered by
private insurance in the past decade. The cost of caring for
uninsured children is passed on to other Alaskans if they use
other federal programs.
MS. RIPLEY said it's not just the cost, but the facts that
uninsured children are nine times less likely to have a regular
doctor, four times more likely to be taken to emergency rooms
and 25 percent more likely to miss school than insured children.
They are not as healthy as children who have regular access.
Without insurance, their parents often delay going to the doctor
until the situation becomes emergent. And one way to get a
handle on rising Medicare costs is to address chronic disease
and other drivers at the primary care level - to stay on top
with prevention and maintenance of health. These children who
are uninsured don't have this opportunity and cost the system
much more on the other end.
She said the state is looking at some level of managed care for
the Medicaid program and is going to issue an RFP for the
development of four medical homes to make sure that patient care
is coordinated to address chronic disease and prevention and to
keep cost drivers down and if this can't be done for children
now, it will be paid for downstream. In issuing this RFP the
state is recognizing it must go upstream and find new models of
providing care.
MS. RIPLEY said that increasing DKC eligibility levels will
result in improved public health and overall health outcomes
throughout the state for Alaskan children and that the state
should explore every other means to make sure eligible children
are enrolled. Other states are doing this with great success.
She encouraged them to increase eligibility to at least 200
percent of poverty level.
10:56:00 AM
CHAIR DAVIS invited Mr. Sherwood back.
MR. SHERWOOD said he had no further comments, but would be happy
to address questions.
MS. JOHNSON thanked the committee for having this hearing.
10:58:13 AM
Recess from 10:58 to 1:25 PM.
1:25:24 PM 1:18:47
DAHNA GRAHAM, representing herself, Anchorage, said she is an
unashamed advocate for the wellness and wholeness of growing
Alaskans. She said she is also a member of Anchorage Faith and
Actions Together that is working toward restoring the state's
health insurance coverage to children who used to be covered.
These are children of working families and well-deserving. She
knows the Governor vetoed the same language last year and it's
their expectation that the legislature work with him to reach a
mutually agreeable position that will insure children up to 200
percent of poverty level.
She said it would be hard to find anyone who would say that
children's access to health insurance and health care is
controversial. Putting these members in office demonstrates
their trust that legislators will all have the understanding,
the expert resources, the factual information and skill to
design legislation that can be passed by the legislature and
signed into law by the governor. Alaska has the money.
CHAIR DAVIS said she also was anxious to reach a mutually
acceptable bill with the governor and was willing to do whatever
she could to compromise and work with him.
1:22:29
ADELE PERSON-GRONING, representing herself, Homer, said hers is
a young family; she works part-time at a gallery and her husband
is self-employed doing fishing and construction. His wages are
good when he is working in the summer, but it is not year-round
employment. They have two children, 6 years and 2 years old, who
are currently covered by DKC; they usually fall very close to
the 175 percent mark and it's terrifying to think of losing the
measure of security. She related that she had a cesarean for her
first daughter who was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and
eventually had surgery in Anchorage. Had those costs not been
covered by DKC, they may have not been encouraged to go for the
screening.
1:26:03 PM
SARAH LEONARD, staff person, thread Child Care Resource and
Referral Network, Anchorage, supported SB 5. She said working
with over 7,500 families annually, thread sees how important
health care resources are for children's healthy development.
Recent brain research shows that supporting children in their
youngest years is the most critical time.
1:27:28 PM
PAGE HOBSON, representing herself, Anchorage, said she is a mom
and a domestic violence advocate. She has a small organization
called Alaska Moms for Custodial Justice, a group of women that
have custody challenges from abusive fathers and are trying very
hard to get back on their feet after exiting relationships. New
crime victimization studies from UAA show that 50 percent of
women in Anchorage have been victimized at some point in their
life. She mentioned the link between manipulation of birth
control and high incidence of additional domestic violence when
women are pregnant; younger children are at higher risk as well
in those situations. So, as many people as possible need to be
covered for preventative care. She urged them to not be short
sighted about trying to save money here and there or let
ideology get in the way of really protecting families and the
most vulnerable populations.
1:29:51 PM
KALEEM NEURIDEEN, representing himself, Alaska, said he is both
a father and a person who works professionally with a non-profit
organization that offers direct services to many citizens who
are being left out of appropriate health care. And as an
outreach minister for the Alaska Center for Spiritual Living, he
also represents a spiritual and moral level. He said he is
absolutely in support of increasing the levels of participation
of Alaskan citizens in DKC for the quality of life that all
citizens deserve to have.
1:32:22 PM
JANE LANDSTROM, representing herself, supported DKC. She said
she is not a parent but has known through her church and friends
how much DKC means to young families. She urged them to increase
eligibility at a level that is as high as possible.
1:33:04 PM
ROBERT BOYLE, Superintendent, Ketchikan School District,
Ketchikan, said he supported DKC. He explained that NCLB
requires all students to be academically successful.
Economically disadvantaged kids are the single target area
within his district that they are unable to reach well with
their programs. They don't have a strong lobby and are first to
get cut in communities across the state.
1:35:41 PM
NICK MOE, representing himself, said he supported SB 5. It's a
very important program. His mom used this program in Nebraska to
help raise his two sisters; she works 12 to 14 hour days and
still needs food stamps. A family shouldn't have to decide
between health care and food or between rent and health care or
worry about being bankrupt because of their children getting
sick.
1:37:07 PM
DEBBIE THOMPSON, Executive Director, Alaska Nurses Association,
said they support SB 5. It's important to take care of the most
vulnerable population - their ability to learn and continue on
to become productive citizens. She urged them to increase the
eligibility level to more than the 175 percent if possible.
1:38:12 PM
MR. SHERWOOD came forward again.
CHAIR DAVIS asked Mr. Sherwood to come forward again and asked
him if abortion related services have to be provided as part of
the DKC pregnancy services, and if so, how many are paid for.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that their figures include the number of
recipients receiving abortion related services, but that
excludes other kinds of terminations of pregnancies like
miscarriage and stillbirth. He didn't have the actual number of
abortions with him right now because claims for services come in
over time and providers have up to a year to bill.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if all abortions (100 percent) are paid by the
state even though the federal government could be billed for
three recognized categories.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that currently to be eligible for
reimbursement from the federal government there are three
exceptions to the prohibition against funding abortion: cases of
rape, incest and the life of the mother. Documentation from the
physicians performing the services must be received to file a
claim and that documentation has not been received in the past.
The state is required to pay either way under Alaska case law.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if the department provides the claim form.
MR. SHERWOOD answered yes.
CHAIR DAVIS asked why the department doesn't provide them to the
physicians.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that the department makes the form
available; the question may be if an affirmative statement that
it doesn't meet the criteria is required. At this point they
don't, but they are considering changing regulations to do so.
1:42:26 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked if abortions cost the state less than 1
percent of the DKC budget.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that it would be less than 1 percent of the
total DKC budget in calendar year 2010.
CHAIR DAVIS asked how much that is in dollars.
MR. SHERWOOD answered $343,000.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if 300 pregnant women and 1,300 children are
brought into the program at this time, how much that would cost.
MR. SHERWOOD answered their technique doesn't estimate abortion
expenditures. They look at total spending and average federal
match and apply that to the expected number of individuals
coming on.
CHAIR DAVIS asked the total budget for the DKC portion of the
provided services.
MR. SHERWOOD replied in 2010, $238 million for DKC enrolled
recipients.
1:45:20 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked if those that qualify for abortions under
Medicaid are being transferred to the DKC budget for abortions.
MR. SHERWOOD replied DKC isn't budgeted separately. If a woman
is on Medicaid and pregnant and seeks abortion services and is
not in one of the DKC categories, the state doesn't do anything
to her eligibility that would move her into DKC.
1:47:50 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked what other services are included in that
number.
MR. SHERWOOD answered that he wasn't a clinician, but there may
be preliminary visits, lab tests, follow up work and so forth.
Sometimes medical records are requested to determine whether or
not the situation is abortion related and therefore federal
funds should not be claimed. Multiple procedure codes may get
billed as part of that service.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if abortions are being paid for out of state
general funds.
MR. SHERWOOD replied yes, out of general fund money.
SENATOR ELLIS said he was in the legislature when Governor
Murkowski cut back on DKC and asked if the department had
tracked or quantified in any way the health outcomes of the
people who lost service at that time.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that he didn't recall any tracking of
health outcomes for those individuals, but the approximate
number of people lost is reflected in their estimate of the
number of people expected to come back on if SB 5 passes.
SENATOR ELLIS asked how people found out they were eliminated
from eligibility.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that he didn't recall all of the
"informational activities" they did, but generally when the
period of eligibility comes up, a standard notice is sent if you
are re-determined to no longer meet income eligibility
requirements. The letter is generated by the Division of Public
Assistance and explains the reason and provides appeal rights.
SENATOR ELLIS remarked that governors' names are on our PFD
checks, but they probably weren't on the termination of
eligibility letters for DKC.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that he didn't remember the letter exactly,
but the standard letter is signed by the case worker not the
governor.
SENATOR ELLIS remarked that some of the people who were dropped
from DKC after the action occurred might have become eligible in
the future - probably because their health costs caught up with
them and they became poor enough to then qualify under the 175
percent level. Is that reasonable to think that happened for
some people?
MR. SHERWOOD replied that is a possibility if you lack health
care and it impacts your ability to work as much. Generally,
their experience with people with incomes at this level is that
there are significant variables in terms of the hours they work
and job changes.
1:55:12 PM
SENATOR ELLIS asked if today he was saying that approximately
the same number of people who dropped off the program during the
Murkowski days is the same number that would come into the
program if SB 5 passed and signed into law at 200 percent of
poverty.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that his recommendation when they developed
the projection for SB 5 was to look at the impact of the 25
percent reduction.
1:58:45 PM
HEATHER MCCAUSLAND, representing herself, Wasilla, said she had
been on unemployment for nine months before getting a part time
job for 1,000 hours a year and when she applied for DKC she made
$150 too much to qualify. She urged them to fund this program at
the 200 percent level like 45 other states do.
2:00:10 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked Mr. Sherwood for closing statements on
possible areas of compromise.
MR. SHERWOOD replied that he would continue to evaluate various
proposals.
2:00:46 PM
GERAN TARR, representing herself, said she wanted to clarify
some of Mr. Sherwood's statements. When the program was rolled
back to 175 percent, income levels were, in fact, frozen at the
2003 levels. So individuals were lost each year up until income
levels were unfrozen in 2007. His estimate that the number of
individuals that would be covered under 200 percent is the same
as the number of individuals that were lost. She remembered from
working in the legislature at that time that the number was
almost double when the change was made to roll back to 175
percent and freeze incomes at 2003 levels. A number of
individuals lost coverage immediately, but in 2004 they lost
coverage because income levels were froze in 2005, 2006 and
2007.
2:02:16 PM
CHAIR DAVIS said she would give Mr. Sherwood some time to get
accurate figures for them.
2:02:33 PM
MS. THOMPSON stepped back to testify on a personal issue saying
her miscarriage was counted as an abortion because of the coding
and medical terms. She asked Mr. Sherwood if coding would
actually say if a procedure was elective or it would
automatically call a procedure an abortion because of the number
of weeks along a woman is. Can those still be mixed in with
abortion figures?
MR. SHERWOOD responded that he is not a clinician and doesn't
work in the codes, but he has had conversations with the
clinicians and understands that they look at a combination of
procedure and diagnosis codes. When in doubt, they request
medical records. He added that it's possible that something
could be incorrectly coded, but clinicians feel comfortable that
they are not including other non-voluntary terminations of
pregnancy and that their process for evaluating those codes is
accurate.
2:05:54 PM
CHAIR DAVIS wanted to know if abortion services could be paid
for out of another "pot of money."
MR. SHERWOOD replied, "For budget purposes it's all one pot of
money." There is a single appropriation for the Medicaid program
and it doesn't distinguish between whether someone is eligible
through one of the DKC categories or one of the other Medicaid
categories; the bills are paid. He said it might be possible to
set up other budget structures, but that is a budget structure
question. Practically, if someone is eligible for pregnancy
services through the Medicaid program, case law dictates that
they are offer coverage of the abortion services. So you can put
the money someplace else, but you're not going to be addressing
the access to service issue.
CHAIR DAVIS said she wasn't concerned about access, but that DKC
has the stigma of paying for abortions and asked if they be
shifted to the regular Medicaid program.
MR. SHERWOOD replied they don't have an abortion allocation.
When they provide numbers on DKC expenditures, they look
retrospectively at how much turned out to be somebody who is on
DKC. He explained that before 1998, the General Relief Medical
Program paid for all the abortions, but that went away.
Regardless of how the budget is structured he couldn't think of
how that would really change the outcome since it's not
accounted for separately now.
2:09:06 PM
MS.THOMPSON related that her personal insurance denied payment
when she miscarried a set of triplets because the diagnosis was
an "AB" and not a "missed AB" and she was too far along and she
finally got an attorney to satisfy the bill. She still had "a
little bit of angst" that the medical definitions and codes
weren't adequate.
2:10:21 PM
ADRIAN LECORNU, Alaska Federation of Natives, simply stated they
support SB 5.
2:11:42 PM
HOLLY RYAN, representing herself, Anchorage, said she is a
Pacific University student and has heard many heartbreaking
stories from women and families who don't have coverage because
of small amounts of income. She wholeheartedly supported the
increase to 200 percent and urged them to raise it to 250
percent.
CHAIR DAVIS thanked everyone for telling their compelling
stories and supporting this bill.
2:12:38 PM
SENATOR ELLIS expressed appreciation to Chair Davis for holding
this hearing. He suggested that any DKC advocates around the
state will have to get involved if they want SB 5 to pass.
People who want to kill it are very active - they make phone
calls, send emails and lobby the governor and legislators. More
people will have to speak out for this bill to pass, he stated.
A shocking number of people want to kill it or keep it from
improving.
2:15:26 PM
Finding no further business to come before the committee, Chair
Davis adjourned the meeting at 2:15 PM.
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