00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 23                                                                                          
01 Urging the United States Congress to amend the Social Security Act so that the                                          
02 higher cost of living in Alaska is reflected when the per capita income of the                                          
03 state is used as a factor in determining the federal share of Medicaid costs.                                           
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05  WHEREAS the federal matching rate for the Medicaid program in each state varies                                        
06 from 50 percent to 77 percent based on the relative per capita income of each state; and                                
07  WHEREAS the use of a simple per capita income figure in the Medicaid program is                                        
08 unfair to the State of Alaska because it ignores the higher cost of living in Alaska, particularly                      
09 the higher cost of health care services; and                                                                            
10  WHEREAS this unfair federal funding formula affects not only the state's receipt of                                    
11 federal matching funds for Medicaid but also for the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance                                
12 Program, child support disbursements, and certain funds under welfare reform; and                                       
13  WHEREAS the federal government has already recognized the higher cost of living                                        
14 in Alaska by adjusting by 25 percent the Medicare nursing facility rates and the federal                                
01 poverty level figures for the state; and                                                                                
02  WHEREAS the use of a 25 percent cost-of-living adjustment in the federal formula                                       
03 would reduce the state's general fund Medicaid match from 50 percent to 38 percent, resulting                           
04 in a savings of $39,249,300 in Medicaid and $646,000 in the Foster Care and Adoption                                    
05 Assistance Program that could be applied to other state purposes without any reductions in                              
06 Medicaid services or services to children;                                                                              
07  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the Congress                                       
08 to amend the Social Security Act so that the higher cost of living in Alaska is reflected when                          
09 per capita income is used in determining the federal share of Medicaid costs in the state;                              
10  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
11 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President                            
12 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                   
13 Honorable Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable                                    
14 Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens                              
15 and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                     
16 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.