Legislature(2005 - 2006)Anch LIO Conf Rm
11/08/2006 04:00 PM House HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Using Alaska's Healthcare Dollars Wisely: Review of Final Recommendations | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Anchorage, Alaska
November 8, 2006
4:18 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Peggy Wilson, Chair
Representative Sharon Cissna
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Paul Seaton, Vice Chair
Representative Tom Anderson
Representative Carl Gatto
Representative Vic Kohring
Representative Berta Gardner
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW: USING ALASKA'S HEALTHCARE DOLLARS WISELY: REVIEW OF
FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
STEPHANIE BIRCH, Chief
Women & Children, and Family Health
Division of Public Health
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information during the overview
and responded to questions.
JERRY FULLER, Project Director
Office of Program Review
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided comments during the overview.
KARLEEN JACKSON, Commissioner
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided comments during the overview.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR PEGGY WILSON called the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 4:18:34 PM.
Representatives Wilson and Cissna were present at the call to
order.
^Overview: Using Alaska's Healthcare Dollars Wisely: Review of
Final Recommendations
4:20:34 PM
CHAIR WILSON [announced that the only order of business would be
a review of the final recommendations regarding using Alaska's
healthcare dollars wisely].
The committee took an at-ease from 4:21 p.m. to 4:24 p.m.
CHAIR WILSON recapped the process that the committee has engaged
in thus far with regard to discussing the topic of using
Alaska's healthcare dollars wisely, and highlighted the issues
of changing demographics, budget concerns, sustainable programs,
and working together on common goals. She indicated that the
House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee
would be forwarding its eight recommendations on to the new
legislature and the new administration.
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA spoke of her concern regarding preparing
Alaska for an uncertain future, particularly with regard to
funding efforts, and acknowledged the difficulty of getting the
public involved in becoming partners [with the state] in making
the tough decisions. She noted that many agencies and entities
now use teleconference and videoconference technology, posited
that the use of such technology by the legislature could really
be helpful in bringing people from all over Alaska into the
discussion, and suggested inserting another recommendation after
recommendation (4) that would read [original punctuation
provided]:
The process for health care system improvement must
include public comment and collaboration as an
important element at all layers of health policy
development and implementation. Expand the
legislature's use of communication technology to
economically bring people throughout the state face-
to-face with legislative health committees and policy
makers.
CHAIR WILSON observed that the recently approved ballot measure
that [statutorily] reduces the legislative session to 90 days
will have an impact on the amount of time available for public
participation in legislative matters.
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA remarked that the legislature could hold
more interim meetings, at which videoconferencing technology
could be used.
CHAIR WILSON surmised that Representative Cissna's additional
recommendation would be inserted after recommendation (4) and
then the remaining recommendations would be renumbered.
4:34:56 PM
STEPHANIE BIRCH, Chief, Women & Children, and Family Health,
Division of Public Health, Department of Health and Social
Services (DHSS), relayed that she has updated the list of Alaska
State health plans and special reports; spoke of the Early
Childhood Comprehensive Care Systems (ECCS) Grant, information
about which can be found on the Office of Children's Services
(OCS) web site; noted the impact pre-conception and prenatal
care for the mother can have on efforts to have healthy babies
and stimulate early child brain development; and suggested that
language regarding such care be added to recommendation (4).
CHAIR WILSON expressed a willingness to add concepts that would
improve the recommendations. She noted that Representative
Seaton had suggested the use of a pilot project that would
distribute vitamins, especially those containing folic acid, to
young women; characterized that as an excellent recommendation;
and offered her observation that the number of personal care
attendants (PCAs) has "mushroomed over night from 8 million to
80 million."
4:42:23 PM
JERRY FULLER, Project Director, Office of Program Review, Office
of the Commissioner, Department of Health and Social Services
(DHSS), after relaying that he is the Medicaid director,
suggested that an epidemiologist should called upon to assist in
any vitamin distribution pilot project so as to ensure that the
sample size of the project is sufficient to arrive at valid and
applicable results.
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA pointed out that recommendations (6) and
(7) speak to the issue of having the studies be scientific in
nature so as to facilitate the instituting of proper courses of
action by policymakers.
MR. FULLER, on the issues of health savings accounts and
consumer directed healthcare, said his information indicates
that there is a certain segment of the population for which such
things make quite good sense and provide a good way for
relatively healthy, relatively wealthy folks to save money.
Furthermore, health savings accounts have been incorporated into
the Florida Medicaid demonstration waiver, though any
conclusions about how applicable health savings accounts and
high-deductible insurance plans are to other populations - those
less healthy and definitely poor - aren't available yet, and so
it may be premature to jump completely into such programs.
Referring to PCAs, he asked the committee to keep in mind that
it takes a significant amount of oversight to keep things on
track, and so additional resources may be necessary in order to
ensure that the "truly needy" get the services they need.
4:48:57 PM
KARLEEN JACKSON, Commissioner, Department of Health and Social
Services (DHSS), extended her thanks to everyone who'd been
involved in the process of compiling the committee's
recommendations.
CHAIR WILSON said she would like to have the aforementioned
suggestions incorporated into the recommendations.
The committee took an at-ease from 4:50 p.m. to 4:55 p.m.
CHAIR WILSON said she would seek committee members' consensus on
adding the aforementioned suggestions to the recommendations;
after those suggestions are incorporated, the recommendations
will be sent to both the incoming and outgoing administrations,
perhaps individual legislators, and the appropriate legislative
committees.
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA suggested that the House Health, Education
and Social Services Standing Committee also host an
informational meeting for all legislators - both returning and
new - specifically outlining the information gleaned from these
interim meetings, and the resultant recommendations, perhaps
even making use of the legislature's existing videoconferencing
equipment to do so.
COMMISSIONER JACKSON noted that it would be helpful for the
committee to specifically ask the commissioner of the DHSS -
whether that is her or a new appointee - to conduct such
briefings for new [and returning] legislators, adding that those
briefings could be tailored to fit specific needs.
CHAIR WILSON thanked everyone who'd been involved in the
process, and said she would try to have the recommendations
concurred upon, finalized, and distributed by December 1, 2006.
MS. BIRCH suggested that that information also be forwarded to
the organizations that sponsored the first meeting of the House
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee on the
issue of using Alaska's healthcare dollars wisely.
ADJOURNMENT
5:04:24 PM
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee meeting
was adjourned at 5:04 p.m.
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