Legislature(2013 - 2014)CAPITOL 106
04/06/2013 09:00 AM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB134 | |
| HB147 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 134 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 147 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 184 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 6, 2013
9:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Pete Higgins, Chair
Representative Wes Keller, Vice Chair
Representative Benjamin Nageak
Representative Lance Pruitt
Representative Lora Reinbold
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Geran Tarr
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 134
"An Act requiring Medicaid payment for scheduled unit dose
prescription drug packaging and dispensing services for
specified recipients."
- HEARD & HELD
HOUSE BILL NO. 147
"An Act extending the reporting date for and the termination
date of the Comprehensive Autism Early Diagnosis and Treatment
Task Force; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED HB 147 OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 184
"An Act requiring screening of newborns for congenital heart
defects."
- BILL HEARING CANCELED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 134
SHORT TITLE: MEDICAID PAYMENT FOR MEDISET PRESCRIPTION
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) COSTELLO
02/20/13 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/20/13 (H) HSS, FIN
03/19/13 (H) HSS AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/19/13 (H) Heard & Held
03/19/13 (H) MINUTE(HSS)
03/28/13 (H) HSS AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/28/13 (H) Heard & Held
03/28/13 (H) MINUTE(HSS)
04/02/13 (H) HSS AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
04/02/13 (H) Heard & Held
04/02/13 (H) MINUTE(HSS)
04/04/13 (H) HSS AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
04/04/13 (H) Scheduled But Not Heard
04/06/13 (H) HSS AT 9:00 AM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 147
SHORT TITLE: EXTEND AUTISM EARLY DIAGNOSIS TASK FORCE
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) SADDLER
03/01/13 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/01/13 (H) HSS
04/06/13 (H) HSS AT 9:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
CHARLES GUINCHARD, Staff
Representative Mia Costello
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 134 on behalf of
Representative Costello, sponsor of the bill.
REPRESENTATIVE DAN SADDLER
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 147 as the sponsor of the
bill.
PAUL VERHAGEN, Staff
Representative Pete Higgins
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during discussion of HB 147.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:02:30 AM
CHAIR PETE HIGGINS called the House Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting to order at 9:02 a.m.
Representatives Higgins, Seaton, Nageak, Keller, and Tarr were
present at the call to order. Representatives Pruitt and
Reinbold arrived as the meeting was in progress.
HB 134-MEDICAID PAYMENT FOR MEDISET PRESCRIPTION
9:03:24 AM
CHAIR HIGGINS announced that the first order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 134, "An Act requiring Medicaid payment for
scheduled unit dose prescription drug packaging and dispensing
services for specified recipients."
[In front of the committee was Version 28-LS0303\R, Mischel,
4/1/13, adopted as the working document by the committee on
April 2, 2013.]
9:03:50 AM
CHARLES GUINCHARD, Staff, Representative Mia Costello, Alaska
State Legislature, said that the sponsor, Representative
Costello, recognized this was a complicated issue and was
willing to spend time answering questions and concerns with
committee members. He reported that there were no changes to
the current working draft, Version R.
9:04:57 AM
CHAIR HIGGINS offered his belief that the sponsor had agreed to
hold the bill in the committee through the interim.
9:05:58 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked about the research requests.
CHAIR HIGGINS agreed to distribute these responses from the
department during the interim.
9:06:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR extolled that the bill presentation had been
especially educational regarding Medicaid expansion.
[HB 134 was held over.]
HB 147-EXTEND AUTISM EARLY DIAGNOSIS TASK FORCE
9:07:18 AM
CHAIR HIGGINS announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 147, "An Act extending the reporting date for and
the termination date of the Comprehensive Autism Early Diagnosis
and Treatment Task Force; and providing for an effective date."
9:07:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DAN SADDLER, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of
HB 147, said that the purpose of the proposed bill was
straightforward, as it would extend the authorization date of
the Comprehensive Autism Early Diagnosis and Treatment Task
Force. He explained that autism was a neural behavioral
disorder, or disease, characterized by diminished communication
and social skills, which was often manifested early in life. He
stated that although it was incurable, it was treatable, and
that treatment improved the life prospects of those with autism.
He declared that treatment also reduced the cost for social
services, and helped improve the outcomes. He noted that Senate
Bill 74 [27th Alaska State Legislature] had established that
private health insurers would cover the cost of effective
treatment for autism; although it did not ensure insurance
coverage for autism to every family, the task force provision
had been added to investigate ways to extend coverage for more
Alaska families. He listed the members of the task force. He
declared that its mission was to make recommendations to the
Alaska State Legislature for development of a statewide
comprehensive plan to support early diagnosis and treatment of
autism, for evaluation of the fiscal impact of its proposals,
and for analysis of the effect of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act on the recommendations and policies of the
task force. He reported that proposed HB 147 would extend the
available time for the task force to January 15, 2015, the last
day of the 28th Legislature. He asked for the committee's
support in passage of the proposed bill.
9:10:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked whether the parameters of the task
force were solely for reviewing insurance coverage, or was it
also for reviewing effective treatment intervention.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER, in response to Representative Seaton,
said that the task force would review both issues, as it had a
somewhat broad mandate for recommendation of ways to improve
early diagnosis and treatment, and ways to implement these
recommendations through legislation.
9:10:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked to clarify that emerging
recommendations of prevention and treatment of autism were to be
incorporated into existing programs, or if the task force was
solely to review current insurance coverage.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER offered his belief that the intent was to
focus on effecting current insurance policies by including state
of the art autism treatment into these policies. He noted that
the task force was not designed to "push the frontiers of
treatment programs," but to implement what was currently
available.
9:11:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD directed attention to page 1, line 9, of
the proposed bill, and asked for the intent of the legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER expressed his agreement that it was broad
and comprehensive coverage. He opined that the focus would be
to integrate the state of the art treatment of autism with
current insurance policies and coverage. He commented that the
coverage in Alaska was a patchwork of insurance providers, and
was very complicated. He shared that an effort of the task
force would be to "try and meld those systems with the treatment
options available for autism."
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked how many patients this would
affect, and she inquired about any fiscal note.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER replied that the majority of the task
force work would be via teleconference, hence there would not be
a fiscal note. In response, he reported that research indicated
that 1 in 88 children in Alaska were affected with autism
spectrum disorder, and that this was a "rather significant
public health problem."
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked for a total number of affected
individuals.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER replied that he was unsure of the exact
numbers.
9:14:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER stated his support for HB 147. He offered
some clarification as he had been involved with the original
bill. He stated that the proposed bill was to explore the
options for extending treatment opportunities equally across the
state, as opposed to simply directing it toward private
insurance. He relayed that there were still questions
outstanding, as there was a desire for the coverage for autistic
children. He pointed out the range of diagnostic estimations
for autism spectrum disorder, and what it covered. He stated
that autism was included in autism spectrum disorder, and he
expressed his desire for more information regarding the
diagnostic definition from the task force. He stated that he
was also concerned for the level of Medicaid expansion which
would result from this proposed bill.
9:17:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER, in response, explained that Asperger's
Syndrome was no longer included in the autism definition. He
pointed out that autism spectrum disorder ranged from low to
high function. He reported that the State of Washington was
making progress for autism coverage, and that the State of
Alaska was also reviewing its coverage. He agreed that there
was a patchwork of autism coverage, noting that Tricare also
offered coverage.
9:18:44 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR shared her support for the proposed bill.
She discussed environmental health research, which underscored
the need to learn a lot more about autism spectrum disorder and
early interventions. She welcomed the upcoming reports from the
proposed task force.
9:19:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if the task force meetings would be
available for listening.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER replied that the task force would welcome
any input and suggestions.
9:20:41 AM
CHAIR HIGGINS commented that he had been learning about the
Alaska Governor's Council on Disabilities and Special Education.
He reported that these council members were paid, and, as one of
its jobs was for the same work as this task force, he
recommended that the groups work together. He pointed out that,
often, the various groups were not collaborative with the
information.
9:22:04 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER remarked that his wife had been on that
council for two terms, and he was very aware of the issues.
9:22:43 AM
CHAIR HIGGINS opened public testimony.
9:22:52 AM
PAUL VERHAGEN, Staff, Representative Pete Higgins, Alaska State
Legislature, shared a personal anecdote about the effects of
autism on his immediate family. He explained that his daughter
had four children who were autistic. He stated the difficulties
for finding any support, and that the State of [Oregon] offered
the most assistance. He reported that the state's assistance
brought her a base of knowledge for help with the children,
which she used to write a children's book for teaching kids with
autism. He expressed gratitude for all the work and support for
autism. He reported that the children were now thriving and at
grade level in school. He declared that it was more difficult
to discern that the kids had autism.
9:27:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report HB 147 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal
notes. There being no objection, HB 147 was moved from the
House Health and Social Services Standing Committee.
9:27:30 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 9:27 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
9:30:26 AM
CHAIR HIGGINS brought the committee back to order.
9:31:32 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health and Social Services Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 9:31 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB184 Sponsor Statement (HB184 Sponsor Statement).pdf |
HHSS 4/6/2013 9:00:00 AM |
HB 184 |
| HB184 Ver N.pdf |
HHSS 4/6/2013 9:00:00 AM |
HB 184 |
| HB184 Sectional Analysis (HB184 Sectional Analysis).pdf |
HHSS 4/6/2013 9:00:00 AM |
HB 184 |
| HB184 Background Document (HB184 AK Metabolic Screening Program).pdf |
HHSS 4/6/2013 9:00:00 AM |
HB 184 |
| HB184 Background Document (HB184 Frequently Asked Questions).pdf |
HHSS 4/6/2013 9:00:00 AM |
HB 184 |
| HB184 Research - 13-345.pdf |
HHSS 4/6/2013 9:00:00 AM |
HB 184 |
| HB147 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HHSS 4/6/2013 9:00:00 AM |
HB 147 |
| HB147 ver A.pdf |
HHSS 4/6/2013 9:00:00 AM |
HB 147 |