03/07/2023 03:00 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES

             HB 58-ADULT HOME CARE; MED ASSISTANCE                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:06:45 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR PRAX  announced that  the next order  of business  would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 58,  "An Act relating  to medical  assistance for                                                               
recipients of  Medicaid waivers; establishing an  adult care home                                                               
license  and   procedures;  providing   for  the   transition  of                                                               
individuals from  foster care  to adult  home care  settings; and                                                               
providing for an effective date."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
3:07:12 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR PRAX opened public testimony on HB 58.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
3:07:57 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
STEPHANIE  WHEELER,  Ombudsman,  Alaska   State  Long  Term  Care                                                               
Ombudsman  program,   said  the  Alaska  State   Long  Term  Care                                                               
Ombudsman program  was in support  of HB  58 as the  bill aligned                                                               
with  its mission  to  protect the  rights,  health, safety,  and                                                               
welfare of  Alaskans living  in long-term  care facilities.   She                                                               
highlighted many  elders wished  to live  in facilities  close to                                                               
family or the place where they  were born.  She stated Alaska had                                                               
the fewest  options for assisted  living homes despite  its size,                                                               
and that HB 58 would help provide more options for elders.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
3:10:19 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PATRICK  REINHART,  Executive  Director,  Governor's  Council  on                                                               
Disability and  Special Education, stated the  Governor's Council                                                               
could  provide its  position paper  in support  of HB  58 to  the                                                               
committee.   He said  HB 58  could provide  more tools  for young                                                               
people  who were  in therapeutic  foster  care that  grew out  of                                                               
foster care homes.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
3:11:53 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MARGE  STONEKING, Advocacy  Director,  AARP  Alaska, stated  that                                                               
AARP supported  HB 58, expansions,  and improvements to  home and                                                               
community based  waiver programs.   She said most  elders desired                                                               
to remain  in their own  homes and  communities as they  age, and                                                               
that community  based services were significantly  less expensive                                                               
than nursing home care.  She  added that Alaska had a shortage of                                                               
home  care workers  which threatened  access  to home  care-based                                                               
services, and  that nursing homes and  institutional care housing                                                               
increased  the cost  of  Medicaid.   She said  that  HB 58  would                                                               
reduce  administrative burden  and  offer  elders more  home-like                                                               
settings.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:14:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KIM   CHAMPNEY,  Executive   Director,   Alaska  Association   on                                                               
Developmental  Disabilities, stated  that the  Alaska Association                                                               
on  Developmental   Disabilities  (AADD)  had  81   members  that                                                               
provided services from Utqiagvik to  Metlakatla, and was a member                                                               
of the  Key Coalition  of Alaska.   She highlighted  the struggle                                                               
Alaska  had  faced  with workforce  shortages  disproportionately                                                               
affecting those with  disabilities, and that HB  58 would provide                                                               
another opportunity  for care  to be  provided from  neighbors or                                                               
family  members  that  may  not  typically  work  at  a  provider                                                               
organization.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS. CHAMPNEY  provided a story  about a mother with  a disability                                                               
who  had two  children with  disabilities and  could not  provide                                                               
care for  them.  She  described that an  uncle had taken  care of                                                               
the children and raised them under  a Medicaid waiver, but as the                                                               
children  had aged  out he  struggled to  make his  home into  an                                                               
assisted living home.  She stated  that if the uncle had not been                                                               
able to jump through hoops, the  two children would have taken up                                                               
spots in  a group facility that  could have been used  by others.                                                               
She emphasized  that adding flexibility to  home-based care would                                                               
help address the shortages Alaska had faced.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
3:17:45 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR PRAX, after  ascertaining there was no one  else who wished                                                               
to testify, closed public testimony on HB 58.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
3:19:12 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE RUFFRIDGE moved  to report HB 58  out of committee                                                               
with individual recommendations and  the accompanying zero fiscal                                                               
notes.   There being no  objection, HB  58 was reported  from the                                                               
House Health and Social Services Standing Committee.