Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
03/27/2017 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing | |
| SB83 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 83 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 27, 2017
1:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator David Wilson, Chair
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Natasha von Imhof, Vice Chair
Senator Peter Micciche
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING
State Medical Board
Timothy Olson
Douglas Mertz
- CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED
SENATE BILL NO. 83
"An Act relating to the protection of vulnerable adults and
residents of long term care facilities."
- MOVED CSSB 83(HSS) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 83
SHORT TITLE: PROTECT: VULNERABLE ADULTS/LONG TERM CARE
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
03/08/17 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/08/17 (S) HSS, FIN
03/17/17 (S) HSS AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
03/17/17 (S) Heard & Held
03/17/17 (S) MINUTE(HSS)
03/27/17 (S) HSS AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
TIMOTHY OLSON, Appointee
State Medical Board
Eagle River, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the State Medical
Board.
DOUGLAS MERTZ, Appointee
State Medical Board
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the State Medical
Board.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:30:25 PM
CHAIR DAVID WILSON called the Senate Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Begich, Giessel, and Chair Wilson.
^Confirmation Hearing
CONFIRMATION HEARING
State Medical Board
1:30:55 PM
CHAIR WILSON announced the first order of business would be
confirmation hearings for the governor's appointees to the State
Medical Board: Timothy Olson and Douglas Mertz.
1:31:00 PM
TIMOTHY OLSON, Appointee, State Medical Board, Eagle River,
Alaska, disclosed that he is a physician assistant (PA). He
provided his medical background to the committee. He detailed
that he has been in practice for 18 months and has resided in
Alaska for over a year.
CHAIR WILSON noted that Mr. Olson has not been in the state very
long. He asked Mr. Olson what brought him to Alaska and what
guided him to the State Medical Board.
MR. OLSON provided personal background information to the
committee. He explained that he applied to serve on the State
Medical Board and thought the new learning experience would be
interesting. He summarized that serving on the board is
something that will help him learn about public health and find
a way to keep people healthy in Alaska.
1:37:24 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL thanked Mr. Olson for applying as an appointee
to the State Medical Board. She disclosed that she is an
advanced nurse practitioner. She asked Mr. Olson if he belonged
to the Physician Assistant Association in Alaska.
MR. OLSON answered yes.
SENATOR GIESSEL replied that being a member to the Physician
Assistant Association will help Mr. Olson connect with issues.
She asked if Mr. Olson has attended any of the State Medical
Board meetings.
MR. OLSON answered no.
SENATOR GIESSEL assumed that Mr. Olson is probably not too
versed in issues that are currently before the board.
MR. OLSON replied that he is following the board's issues and
has read the minutes from previous meetings. He admitted that
there will be a lot for him to learn.
SENATOR GIESSEL commented that Mr. Olson is making efforts to
educate himself and added that he will learn a lot as a board
member should he get confirmed. He asked if Mr. Olson is aware
of the time commitment required for serving on the board.
MR. OLSON answered yes. He disclosed that he has been exposed to
the time commitment that is required. He noted that he has
interacted with the board regarding a few issues that he has
been asked to comment on.
SENATOR GIESSEL opined that Mr. Olson's response implies that he
is aware that the time required for a new applicant to receive
their license in the state is one of the big issues that the
board deals with.
1:40:02 PM
SENATOR BEGICH asked if he has only been in Alaska for a little
less than 18 months.
MR. OLSON answered correct.
SENATOR BEGICH admitted that he is a little concerned with Mr.
Olson's length of time in the state and his knowledge of the
issues. He asked Mr. Olson what unique characteristic he would
bring to the board that would help them in their deliberations.
He noted that the board deals with most of the state's doctors.
MR. OLSON explained that he would bring enthusiasm to the board.
He said he would continue to strive to learn. He asserted that
he is exposed to a lot because he is in general-family medicine
and urgent care. He asserted that his exposure to a lot of
different specialties, doctors, and health-care issues helps him
to understand health care and to help understand issues.
1:42:56 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL addressed the board's oversight responsibilities
as follows:
The State Medical Board is responsible for licensing,
regulation and discipline of allopathic and
osteopathic physicians, podiatrists, physician
assistants, and mobile intensive care paramedics in
the State of Alaska.
She noted for the public record that there is a designated seat
for a PA on the State Medical Board.
CHAIR WILSON thanked Mr. Olson.
1:44:05 PM
DOUGLAS MERTZ, Appointee, State Medical Board, Juneau, Alaska,
stated that he was appointed by the governor for one of two
public seats. He specified that a public seat is non-medical on
the board. He provided personal and professional background
information to the committee. He disclosed that he is currently
a lawyer in private practice with a primary focus on employment
law. He noted that he has encountered a number of medical
issues. He disclosed that he has a great concern about mental-
health issues in addition to addiction and substance abuse
issues.
1:46:29 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL asked if he has attended any of the board
meetings.
MR. MERTZ answered that his service actually started on March 1
and he attended a meeting via teleconference.
SENATOR GIESSEL asked what the key issues are before the board
right now.
MR. MERTZ replied that the board is spending a lot of time on
discipline related to over-prescription of opioids as well as
dealing with the tremendous problem of opioid addiction. He said
the next issue is making sure the board does not lose sight of
mental-health issues during the current budgetary time for state
and federal governments.
SENATOR GIESSEL pointed out that the State Medical Board does
not really directly deal with the policy issues that Mr. Mertz
noted. She asked Mr. Mertz how he sees the application of his
interests.
MR. MERTZ remarked that the board indirectly deals with the
opioid over-prescribing issue through disciplinary actions
against physicians who over-prescribe or do not take the proper
care in determining whether a patient can handle opioids or some
other kind of painkiller. He added that because psychiatry is
one of the covered fields within medicine, the board has a
general mandate to watch and give advice on what happens with
psychiatric services.
1:48:47 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL asked him to flesh out his previous remarks. She
inquired in which way is a professional regulatory board having
any jurisdiction over psychiatric services offered in the state.
MR. MERTZ replied that the only direct ways would be in
disciplinary actions. He added that the board plays another role
in evaluating qualifications of foreign-trained physicians and
PAs to make sure their education in particular areas are
equivalent to what is received from a U.S. medical school. He
opined that indirect ways encompass matters that come up that
are of concern to the board as a group with general knowledge,
oversite and care about particular medical issues that the board
is in a position to offer advice on it. He conceded that there
is no direct role mandated in the board's authorizing statutes.
SENATOR GIESSEL noted that Mr. Mertz is an attorney and pointed
out that discipline was mentioned in response to several
questions. She asked if Mr. Mertz saw discipline as a key
function of any professional regulatory board.
MR. MERTZ answered absolutely. He noted that he has been
involved on behalf of the Alaska Bar Association with
disciplinary matters having to do with attorneys, the rough
equivalent to what the State Medical Board does with physicians
who may have mental-health issues or negligence issues or issues
relating to over-prescription of particular drugs, such as
opioids. He reiterated that over-prescription of opioids is a
prime matter of concern for the board. He noted that after
reviewing the board's minutes over the past several years,
disciplinary matters have come up with some regularity.
1:51:06 PM
CHAIR WILSON opened and closed public testimony on the
appointments of Mr. Olson and Mr. Mertz.
CHAIR WILSON read a statement regarding the appointments of Mr.
Olson and Mr. Mertz as follows:
In accordance to AS 39.05.080, the Senate Health and
Social Services Committee reviewed the following
recommendations and appointments will be forwarded to
a joint session for consideration: Timothy Olson and
Douglas Mertz to the State Medical Board. This does
not reflect an intent by any of the members to vote
against or for the confirmations of the individuals
during any further sessions.
1:51:53 PM
At ease.
SB 83-PROTECT: VULNERABLE ADULTS/LONG TERM CARE
1:53:00 PM
CHAIR WILSON called the committee back to order. He announced
the consideration of SB 83, the governor's bill relating to
vulnerable adults. He noted that public testimony was taken on
SB 83 during the bill's previous hearing. He announced that a
committee substitute (CS) is before the committee, labeled 30-
GS1815\D. He entertained a motion to adopt the CS as the
committee's working document.
1:53:23 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL moved that the committee adopt the CS for SB 83,
version 30-GS1815\D.
1:53:33 PM
SENATOR BEGICH objected for purposes of hearing the changes.
CHAIR WILSON specified that the CS makes the following simple
changes to the original version A:
· Corrects the drafting error on page 4, line 5 to reflect
the accurate statute of citation of AS 47.62.090.
· Aligns additional paragraphs under AS 47.24.011 with
proposed amendment language requested elsewhere in the bill
that being changing references from "central information
and referral services" to "vulnerable adults centralized
intake office."
1:54:43 PM
SENATOR BEGICH removed his objection to the CS.
1:54:48 PM
CHAIR WILSON announced that hearing no other further objection,
version D is adopted.
1:54:58 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL moved the CS for SB 83, version 30-GS1815\D,
from committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal note(s).
1:55:10 PM
CHAIR WILSON announced that without objection, CSSB 83(HSS)
moved from the Senate Health and Social Services Standing
Committee.
1:55:19 PM
At ease.
1:56:23 PM
CHAIR WILSON called the committee back to order.
1:56:51 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Wilson adjourned the Senate Health and Social Services
Committee at 1:56 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| CSSB 83(HSS) v D.pdf |
SHSS 3/27/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 83 |
| 17.03.23 CSSB83 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
SHSS 3/27/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 83 |