Legislature(2013 - 2014)BUTROVICH 205
04/13/2013 08:30 AM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HJR14 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HJR 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 13, 2013
8:32 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bert Stedman, Chair
Senator Peter Micciche, Vice Chair
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Pete Kelly
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Johnny Ellis
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14(HSS)
Requesting the United States Congress, the Governor, and the
state's congressional delegation to take actions necessary to
delay implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act.
- MOVED SCS CSHJR 14(HSS) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HJR 14
SHORT TITLE: DELAY IMPLEMENTING AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) STOLTZE
03/22/13 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/22/13 (H) HSS
04/02/13 (H) HSS AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
04/02/13 (H) Moved CSHJR 14(HSS) Out of Committee
04/02/13 (H) MINUTE(HSS)
04/04/13 (H) HSS RPT CS(HSS) NT 3DP 1DNP 2NR
04/04/13 (H) DP: KELLER, REINBOLD, HIGGINS
04/04/13 (H) DNP: TARR
04/04/13 (H) NR: NAGEAK, PRUITT
04/09/13 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/09/13 (H) VERSION: CSHJR 14(HSS)
04/10/13 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/10/13 (S) HSS
04/13/13 (S) HSS AT 8:30 AM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
DARWIN PETERSON, Staff
Senator Bert Stedman
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the proposed changes in the Senate
CS for HJR 14.
DARRELL BREESE, Staff
Representative Bill Stoltze
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced HJR 14 on behalf of the sponsor.
MARK REGAN, Attorney
Disability Law Center of Alaska
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Raised questions about the factual validity
of some of the clauses in HJR 14.
ROBERT HEINRICH, Member
Anchorage Chamber of Commerce
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of the concept of HJR
14 and the removal of the clauses proposed in the Senate CS.
DENNIS DEWITT, Lobbyist
National Federation of Independent Businesses
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Stated support of HJR 14.
BILL STRUER, Commissioner
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified that HJR 14 and the Department of
Health and Social Services are moving slowly with respect to the
Affordable Care Act.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:32:28 AM
CHAIR BERT STEDMAN called the Senate Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:32 a.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Micciche, Kelly, and Chair Stedman.
Senator Meyer arrived soon thereafter.
HJR 14-DELAY IMPLEMENTING AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
8:32:50 AM
CHAIR STEDMAN announced the consideration of HJR 14, requesting
the United States Congress, the Governor, and the state's
congressional delegation to take actions necessary to delay
implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act. [CSHJR 14(HSS) was before the committee.] He noted that
this was the first hearing of the resolution and the intent was
to adopt the Senate committee substitute, receive an
introduction, take public testimony and look to the will of the
committee.
SENATOR MICCICHE moved to adopt the Senate committee substitute
(CS) for CS for HJR 14, labeled 28-LS0187\C, as the working
document.
CHAIR STEDMAN objected for purposes of an explanation.
8:33:46 AM
DARWIN PETERSON, Staff, Senator Bert Stedman, explained that
version C makes four changes, all of which remove language.
First, on page 1, the phrases "the President of the United
States and the Democratic majority in" and "voting mainly along
party lines," were removed from the first whereas clause. The
purpose for this was to remove partisan language. Second, on
page 4, following line 6, an entire whereas clause was deleted.
It stated, "the Obama Administration admits that tens of
millions of Americans are at risk of losing their health care
coverage." Third, on page 5, following line 1, the last two
whereas clauses were removed. They stated, "the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act expands Medicaid without any
significant reform, leaving the state to assume an unsustainable
financial burden" and "the required expansion of Medicaid under
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will cause the
number of Alaskans covered by the program to increase by at
least 30 percent." The purpose of removing these two clauses is
that the legislature would be taking a position on Medicaid
expansion and the governor intends to conduct a cost-benefit
analysis over the interim and make a decision later.
CHAIR STEDMAN removed his objection.
8:35:51 AM
SENATOR KELLY asked if there was feedback from the sponsor.
MR. PETERSON said the sponsor concurs with the changes.
CHAIR STEDMAN found no further objection; [therefore, version C
was before the committee.]
8:36:45 AM
DARRELL BREESE, Staff, Representative Bill Stoltze, sponsor of
HJR 14, confirmed that the sponsor worked with Senator Stedman's
office on the changes in the current CS.
He explained that the resolution is a call for the federal
government to do some cost analysis, not repeal the Act. The
sponsor wants business to move forward knowing the actual costs
before implementation.
He noted support for the resolution by the National Federation
of Independent Businesses.
He highlighted several whereas clauses in the Act. The largest
insurance companies in Alaska stated that they expect premiums
to increase between 30 to 80 percent for individual policy
holders due to the Act. The average cost increase for individual
health insurance would increase by $2,500 per year. There are 21
new taxes which will incur costs. He noted that big business
will remove employees from full-time status to avoid paying
increased costs. The estimate is that 30 percent of small
businesses nationwide will remove employees from their rolls. It
is also estimated that 8 to 10 percent of people receiving
insurance now will lose it altogether. The total cost of the Act
has increased by more than three times the original cost to $2.6
trillion a year and is still being evaluated. He concluded that
the resolution requests the Obama administration to clarify the
costs of the Act.
8:41:54 AM
SENATOR MEYER joined the committee.
CHAIR STEDMAN noted the zero fiscal note. He opened public
testimony.
8:42:20 AM
MARK REGAN, Attorney, Disability Law Center of Alaska, raised
questions about the factual validity of HJR 14. He drew
attention to the statement that says Garden Restaurants has
transferred nearly 75 percent of the chain's employees from full
time to part time status in an attempt to limit the number of
employees for whom health insurance would be mandated under the
Act. He maintained that there were problems with that statement
and it was based on an Associated Press story from 2012 that
wasn't accurate. He explained that the chain already has 75
percent of its employees in part time status and was only
testing the possibility of converting full time employees, but
decided not to do so. He proposed that the committee doesn't
know if that is the only factual error in the resolution, so it
would be a bad idea for the committee to pass it.
8:45:27 AM
ROBERT HEINRICH, Member, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce,
testified in support of the concept of HJR 14 and the removal of
the clauses proposed in the Senate CS. He opined that it was
premature to discuss the impact of the Medicaid expansion at
this point.
DENNIS DEWITT, Lobbyist, National Federation of Independent
Businesses, stated support of HJR 14.
8:47:43 AM
BILL STRUER, Commissioner, Department of Health and Social
Services (DHSS), stated that HJR 14 is headed in the same
direction as the department with respect to the Affordable Care
Act, which is to move slowly. He didn't see any way that the
state wouldn't see increased costs with the implementation of
the program. There are already significant problems with access
to Medicaid and Medicare.
He offered his belief that the clauses that were removed are
fundamentally accurate. The Medicaid population will increase by
30 percent. He said Mr. Breese's comments are accurate and it
will be a challenge and expensive.
8:50:14 AM
CHAIR STEDMAN asked about page 2, line 31, the reference to the
Garden Restaurants.
MR. BREESE said the information was based on another AP article
from October 9, 2012, not the one the caller mentioned. He noted
he hasn't researched farther than that.
CHAIR STEDMAN suggested asking the sponsor to check the accuracy
of that article and to offer an amendment on the floor, if
needed.
8:51:54 AM
MR. BREESE said the clause goes to the heart of the resolution.
He noted the information related to the Act is changing daily.
He agreed to research the aforementioned issue.
SENATOR KELLY asked the sponsor's staff to get the information
requested and remove the anecdotal information.
SENATOR MICCICHE agreed with the suggestion.
SENATOR KELLY suggested saying "nationwide businesses are
considering."
CHAIR STEDMAN found no further questions or discussion and asked
the will of the committee.
8:53:56 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE moved to report [Senate] CS for CS for HJR 14,
version C, from committee with individual recommendations and
attached fiscal note.
CHAIR STEDMAN announced that without objection SCS CSHJR 14(HSS)
moved from the Senate Health and Social Services Standing
Committee.
8:54:34 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Stedman adjourned the meeting at 8:54 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| CS HJR014 (HSS).pdf |
SHSS 4/13/2013 8:30:00 AM |
HJR 14 |
| HJR 14.pdf |
SHSS 4/13/2013 8:30:00 AM |
HJR 14 |
| HJR014-1-2-040413-HSS-N.pdf |
SHSS 4/13/2013 8:30:00 AM |
HJR 14 |
| HJR 14 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SHSS 4/13/2013 8:30:00 AM |
HJR 14 |
| HJR 14 summary.pdf |
SHSS 4/13/2013 8:30:00 AM |
HJR 14 |
| HJR 14 resolution sources.pdf |
SHSS 4/13/2013 8:30:00 AM |
HJR 14 |
| HJR 14 Supporting Documents - NFIB.pdf |
SHSS 4/13/2013 8:30:00 AM |
HJR 14 |