CHAIRMAN RIEGER introduced  SSHJR 54  (SUPPORT MEDICAL SAVINGS ACCT           
 LEGISLATION) as the next order of business.                                   
                                                                               
                                                                               
 JACK PHELPS, staff to Representative Pete Kott, explained that as             
 medical costs nationally and in Alaska continue to rise, the need             
 for innovative approaches to health care cost containment becomes             
 more acute.  Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) offer an approach to             
 reducing health care costs that appeals to market forces and                  
 minimizes government intrusion into the market.  HJR 52 urges                 
 Congress to amend the U.S. Tax Code to make these medical savings             
 accounts work.                                                                
                                                                               
 Number 525                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR MILLER moved that SSHJR 54 be passed out of committee with            
 individual recommendations.  Hearing no objection, it was so                  
 ordered.