03/11/2009 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB11 | |
| SB27 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 11 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 27 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 11, 2009
1:32 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bettye Davis, Chair
Senator Joe Paskvan, Vice Chair
Senator Johnny Ellis
Senator Joe Thomas
Senator Fred Dyson
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 11
"An Act relating to health care insurance coverage of a
dependent child who is less than 26 years of age and making a
conforming age amendment in the statute describing health
insurance policies that may be delivered or issued in this
state."
HEARD AND HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 27
"An Act relating to tuition waivers for a child who was in
foster care; relating to eligibility for foster care and subsidy
payments for a hard-to-place child; and amending the definition
of 'child' in certain statutes."
HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 11
SHORT TITLE: DEPENDENT HEALTH INSURANCE; AGE LIMIT
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) DAVIS
01/21/09 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/09
01/21/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/09 (S) HSS, L&C, FIN
03/11/09 (S) HSS AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 27
SHORT TITLE: FOSTER CARE AGE LIMIT/TUITION WAIVER
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) DAVIS
01/21/09 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/09
01/21/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/09 (S) HSS, L&C, FIN
03/11/09 (S) HSS AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
TOM OBERMEYER
Staff to Senator Davis
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Read the sponsor statements for SB 11 and SB
27 and presented a sectional analysis of CSSB 27.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:32:23 PM
CHAIR BETTYE DAVIS called the Senate Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Dyson, Ellis and Davis. Senator
Paskvan joined the meeting shortly after it started.
SB 11-DEPENDENT HEALTH INSURANCE; AGE LIMIT
CHAIR DAVIS announced consideration of SB 11.
1:33:34 PM
TOM OBERMEYER, staff to Senator Davis, read the sponsor
statement for SB 11 as follows:
1:34:00 PM
SB 11 requires an insurer to enroll, and prohibits
taking off the rolls or eliminating health care
insurance coverage without the consent of the insured,
for a person less than 26 years old who is related to
the insured, unmarried, financially dependent on the
insured, does not have dependents, enrolled in an
institution of higher education, and not insured under
another policy. SB 11 changes the age that a person is
considered a child from 23 years of age to 26 for
purposes of determining who may be insured under the
same policy of health insurance.
Young adults, ages 19-29, are one of the largest
growing segments of the U.S. population without health
insurance. In 2004 almost 14 million young adults
lacked coverage, an increase of 2.5 million since
2000. This rapid change is due in part to their losing
coverage under their parents' policies at 19, or
Medicaid, or State Children's Health Insurance
Program, or graduation from high school or college.
Almost half of college graduates and high school
graduates will be uninsured for a substantial time
after graduation.
Age 19 is a crucial year in health insurance coverage.
Both public and private insurance plans treat this age
as a turning point for insurance coverage. Even if
youth go on to college, parents' insurance plans often
stop before graduation. Almost all private
universities and about one fourth of public
universities require health insurance as a condition
of enrollment. Forty percent of part-time students and
non-students, and 20 percent of full-time students
ages 19-23 are uninsured.
Insurance coverage is important for this generally
healthy group of young adults who should be encouraged
to start taking responsibility for their own health
care. It has been found that 14 percent of adults 18-
29 are obese, an increase of 70 percent in the 1990s,
the fastest rate of increase among all adults. There
are 3.5 million pregnancies each year among the 21
million women ages 19-29. One-third of all diagnoses
of HIV are made among young adults. Emergency room
visits are far more common among young adults than
children or older adults. Most young adults have no
regular doctor, no link to the health care system, and
more than one-third of those who do require medical
attention are often saddled with debt and collection
agencies.
States are taking action to mandate coverage for young
adults, often allowing for targeted policy options.
For example, in 2006 New Jersey required most group
health plans to cover single adult dependents up to
age 30. Massachusetts as part of its expanded health
insurance law in 2006 considered dependents for
insurance purposes up to age 25 or for two years after
they are no longer claimed on their parents' tax
returns. Since 1994 Utah has required coverage through
age 26, and New Mexico provides coverage for unmarried
dependents up to age 25, regardless of school
enrollment. Texas in 2003 allowed full-time students
up to be covered by their parents' insurance plans to
age 25. It is not uncommon, or unreasonable,
therefore, that Senate Bill 11 requires offering
family health insurance coverage to dependent children
up to age 26.
1:38:12 PM
SENATOR DYSON said he had hoped someone from the insurance
industry would testify and said he is glad that it is not Chair
Davis's intention to move the bill today.
CHAIR DAVIS said this bill has been heard before and thinks it
would be quite helpful to the young people of this state; she
intended to hold it to give people more opportunity to speak for
or against it.
SENATOR DYSON asked if the term "enrolled" in higher education
has been defined for the purposes of this bill.
CHAIR DAVIS replied that she believes a student has to be
enrolled full time, which would mean at least 12 credits, but
she will verify that.
MR. OBERMEYER said that language on page 2, AS 21.42.345(e)(5)
says the person must be enrolled "as a full-time student at an
institution of higher education accredited by the regional or
national accrediting agencies recognized by the Council for
Higher Education Accreditation or the U. S. Department of
Education." The fiscal note indicates that the University of
Alaska currently has 200 non-active dependents between the ages
of 24 and 26 who would become re-eligible for health care
insurance if this bill were to pass; the expected annual
increase in cost to UA would be approximately $1.2 million.
SENATOR DYSON admitted that he had not read that portion of the
bill carefully. He wondered whether, if a kid enrolls and gets
coverage and then quits school or flunks out, if a process is in
place to let the insurer know the student is no longer eligible.
1:42:12 PM
SENATOR THOMAS joined the meeting.
CHAIR DAVIS responded that it depends on who your coverage is
with; but in her experience the insurer will carry the student
to the end of that school year, but will not renew coverage if
the student does not enroll for the following school year.
SENATOR DYSON said that he probably knows far more scoundrels
than Senator Davis does, who are looking for a way to scam the
system.
MR. OBERMEYER remarked that the increased cost to continuing
coverage for these children has not been very high. It was
anticipated that if the parents want to keep their children on a
health care plan, they could do so until age 26; this is a
relatively healthy population group, so it hasn't greatly
increased the cost to private insurers. He said he would try to
get some figures from other states.
SENATOR PASKVAN observed that this would help a person who is
18, joins the military for a few years, gets out and then wants
to go back to school full time.
1:44:32 PM
SENATOR DYSON added that will be true only if the person meets
the criteria of being a dependent child.
MR. OBERMEYER pointed to the second page of the National
Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Legislative Brief in the
members' packets. Under State Action, it says:
Expanded coverage for young adults may be structured
as an insurance policy rider with supplements et
cetera... More commonly, coverage is extended to all
policies and the young adult is simply covered by the
family premium. Some experts predict that the latter
strategy may increase employer premiums by about 5
percent to 9 percent.
That may not be significant, he said, but it depends upon what
population sample one is looking at, and other options are
available like keeping students on the plan but perhaps
requiring a small rider. He mentioned this because those
students who are forced to accept college plans sometimes find
they are paying $1800 or more per year for coverage; if they can
stay on their parents' plan, it's far cheaper than anything
else.
1:46:24 PM
CHAIR DAVIS closed public testimony and said she would hold SB
11 for another hearing.
SB 27-FOSTER CARE AGE LIMIT/TUITION WAIVER
CHAIR DAVIS announced consideration of SB 27.
1:47:56 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN moved to adopt CS for SB 27, labeled 26-
LS0205\E, as the working document. There being no objection,
version E was before the committee.
TOM OBERMEYER, staff to Senator Davis, sponsor of SB 27,
explained that version E changes the definition of "foster care"
to "out-of-home care" because so many relatives who are not
licensed foster parents take care of children who are in out-of-
home care. It extends eligibility for tuition waivers for a
person in foster care from 19 to 21, if the person was in foster
care at age 16 for not less than 6 consecutive months and is in
out-of-home care at the time of application. The bill subjects
waivers of tuition to availability of funds by appropriation.
He noted that the sectional analysis is very complete and went
through it quickly for the members as follows:
Section 1: Adds a new section, AS 14.43.086, entitling
a person who was in the state in out-of-home care to a
waiver of undergraduate tuition and fees in a state-
supported school.
Section 2: Adds a cross reference to a definition for
out-of-home care for purposes of the tuition waiver.
Section 3: Changes "foster care" to "out-of-home care"
for purposes of the procurement code.
Section 4: Adds a cross reference to a definition for
out-of-home care form medical assistance provision.
Section 5: Extends court orders to age 21 for a child
committed to the custody of the department if they are
placed in out-of-home care.
1:49:41 PM
Section 6: Changes the definition of "child" under AS
47.10.990(3) (child in need of aid) to include a
person under 21 years of age living in out-of-home
care.
Section 7: Changes "foster care" to "out-of-home care"
for purposes of the child in need of aid statutes.
Section 8: Changes "foster care" to "out-of-home care"
for purposes of the transition program to independent
living.
Section 9: Changes "foster care" to "out-of-home care"
for purposes of the transition program for children
who are not less than age 18 living in out-of-home
care, as defined.
Section 10: Adds children who were placed in out-of-
home care to provide transition program services for
the purpose of achieving self-sufficiency.
Section 11: Changes "foster care" to "out-of-home
care" for the purposes of the transition program
definition.
Section 12: Adds a monetary stipend for children in
the transition program for a specified period of time.
Section 13: Adds a cross reference to a definition for
out-of-home care for purposes of the transition
program.
MR. OBERMEYER said that Jean Michelle, Legislative Legal
Division, was online if the members had any questions about this
draft or its intent.
1:51:25 PM
CHAIR DAVIS closed public testimony and held SB 27 in committee.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Davis adjourned the meeting at 1:52 p.m.
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