Legislature(2025 - 2026)ADAMS 519
04/29/2025 10:00 AM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Governor's Amendments by the Office of Management and Budget | |
| HB14 | |
| HB123 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 123 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HOUSE BILL NO. 14
"An Act repealing programs for catastrophic illness
assistance and medical assistance for chronic and
acute medical conditions."
10:24:23 AM
Co-Chair Foster asked the bill sponsor to introduce the
bill.
10:25:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILL STAPP, SPONSOR, noted that a similar
bill had passed out of the committee and had passed the
house nearly unanimously in the previous year. He reminded
the committee that in the prior year the legislature
defunded the Catastrophic Illness and Chronic or Acute
Medical Conditions (CAMA) program because no Alaskans had
applied for the program for many years. He cited the FY
2025 Midyear Status Report by the Legislative Finance
Division for the Department of Health (DOH) that assessed
how the departments were executing the current year's
budget directives. He delineated that the question directed
to the department was whether DOH had encountered any
issues related to defunding the program. The agency
responded that it had not encountered issues nor received
any applications for assistance. He related that the
program began in 1986 and was designed to bridge a gap for
individuals who experienced a catastrophic event and were
too young or could not qualify for Medicare and Medicaid.
Medicaid expansion and other public assistance program
changes since 1986 rendered CAMA null and void. Currently,
Alaskans would likely "have better options on the federally
facilitated marketplace" than under the CAMA program, thus
the reason no Alaskans qualified for the program in the
prior 3 years.
10:27:30 AM
Co-Chair Foster asked for a review of the fiscal note.
DEB ETHERIDGE, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE,
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (via teleconference), reviewed the
published zero fiscal note for DOH (FN1(DOH) allocated to
Public Assistance Field Services. She read the analysis on
page 2 of the fiscal note as follows:
Since the implementation of the Medicaid Expansion
Group in 2015, most individuals now qualify for
Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) Medicaid,
eliminating the need for the Chronic and Acute Medical
Assistance (CAMA) program. Currently, no one is using
the service, as its only eligible populationlegal
immigrants who do not meet the five-year residency
requirement for Medicaidcan access alternative
options through the federally facilitated marketplace.
The Division can integrate the regulatory repeal of
CAMA into regular updates with minimal impact on
public assistance field services.
Co-Chair Foster asked what happened to the bill in the
prior year. Representative Stapp answered that the bill had
made it to the Senate Finance Committee in the previous
year and ran out of time. The committee had not heard the
bill. However, the deletion of the program's funding was
maintained in the budget. He thought the legislature
should pass the bill and carry on.
Representative Hannan stated the fiscal note showed that it
cost nothing to cut the program. She asked if it saved any
funding to cut the program. Ms. Etheridge responded that
there had been a limited number of individuals who
inadvertently applied for the program; nine had applied and
were ineligible. The fiscal note reflected the very little
change in the division's work. The program's elimination
did not save or cost any money.
Co-Chair Foster asked for the will of the committee
regarding moving the bill out of committee.
Representative Jimmie MOVED to REPORT HB 14 out of
committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note.
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
HB 14 was REPORTED out of committee with nine "do pass"
recommendations and two "no recommendation" recommendations
and with one previously published zero fiscal note: FN1
(DOH).
Representative Stapp thanked the committee.
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