Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106

02/10/2005 03:00 PM House HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES


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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ HB 95 PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTERS/EMERGENCIES TELECONFERENCED
Moved CSHB 95(HES) Out of Committee
Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
= HB 105 MEDICAID FOR ADULT DENTAL SERVICES
Moved CSHB 105(HES) Out of Committee
= HB 106 SENIOR CARE PROGRAM
Moved CSHB 106(HES) Out of Committee
HB 105-MEDICAID FOR ADULT DENTAL SERVICES                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
4:18:52 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR WILSON announced  that the next order of  business would be                                                               
HOUSE  BILL NO.  105,  "An  Act relating  to  coverage for  adult                                                               
dental services  under Medicaid;  and providing for  an effective                                                               
date."                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  ANDERSON moved  to  adopt CSHB  105, Version  24-                                                               
GH1081\G, Mischel, 2/7/05, as the  working document.  There being                                                               
no objection, Version G was before the committee.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
4:19:20 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR WILSON asked  if any of the committee  members had comments                                                               
or questions.  There were none.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
4:19:52 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DELISA CULPEPPER,  Chief Operating Officer, Alaska  Mental Health                                                               
Trust Authority  (AMHTA), testified  in support of  HB 105.   She                                                               
noted  that the  AMHTA is  helping to  fund the  fiscal note  for                                                               
this.  She commented:                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     Dental services  have been [an]  issue for all  four of                                                                    
     our  beneficiary groups  for many  years.   We do  fund                                                                    
     some dental  services through what we  call mini-grants                                                                    
     already,  and we're  noticing a  trend  over the  years                                                                    
     that  the  mini-grants  are  going  more  and  more  to                                                                    
     provide basic dental services  because there's no other                                                                    
     funding for  people who ... [are]  Medicaid-eligible or                                                                    
     lower income and  aren't on Medicaid.   But our funding                                                                    
     for mini-grants isn't available  in a timely manner the                                                                    
     way people that  have a dental emergency  or are trying                                                                    
     to  prevent one  would need.   And  so we've  been very                                                                    
     supportive of the department's proposal  to invest in a                                                                    
     more  preventive  action,  realizing that  it  takes  a                                                                    
     little time  up front  to get people  to a  point where                                                                    
     they  aren't having  these  emergencies,  but [in  the]                                                                    
     long  term we  think  that it  can  eventually save  us                                                                    
     money and be a much more  humane way to provide some of                                                                    
     our  beneficiaries with  the treatment  they need  when                                                                    
     they don't have access to other insurance for dental.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
4:21:39 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PAMELA HAWEK, Anchorage Neighborhood  Health Center, testified in                                                               
support of  HB 105.   She pointed out  that there are  two health                                                               
center  clinics,  and a  large  population  of the  patients  are                                                               
underserved and underinsured, many  of who are Medicaid-eligible.                                                               
There's a  huge gap  in the  dental care of  the adults  that are                                                               
Medicaid-eligible,  she commented.    Currently approximately  30                                                               
adults a week  are seen at the clinic, and  because they are only                                                               
eligible for  emergency care, she  said, "we're pulling a  lot of                                                               
teeth.  We're  doing very little restorative treatment."   HB 105                                                               
would allow these patients to  make appointments, have exams, and                                                               
work  on restorative  dental treatment  as  well as  preventative                                                               
care.  She offered to  collect more information for the committee                                                               
if the members would like.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
4:24:07 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DIANE   DISANTO,  Special   Assistant  to   Mayor  Mark   Begich,                                                               
Municipality  of  Anchorage,  stated  that  the  Municipality  of                                                               
Anchorage was in total support of  this bill.  She commented that                                                               
this bill would expand Medicaid  coverage to include preventative                                                               
and  restorative care.   She  noted that  if dental  care is  not                                                               
taken care of,  it can lead to infection and  chronic disease, so                                                               
in  the  long  run,  this  bill  will  save  money.    AMHTA  has                                                               
recognized access to  dental service as a priority  issue and are                                                               
willing to  commit funding, she  said, and the  Medicaid matching                                                               
funds would  apply as  well, so  the impact  to the  general fund                                                               
wouldn't be  too much.  She  said, "The city is  working on other                                                               
ways  to look  at helping  the  uninsured, and  there's over  100                                                               
doctors  that  are  now  signed  up to  do  pro  bono  work,  and                                                               
hopefully in the future we will have dentists."                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
4:26:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RICHARD GREEN, Major, Salvation Army,  testified in support of HB
105.  He pointed out that  the Salvation Army has operated a free                                                               
dental  clinic for  the last  15 years  to the  uninsured working                                                               
poor.  Last year the clinic  saw about 1,300 clients and provided                                                               
450 in-chair  appointments.   He noted that  about 90  percent of                                                               
the clients have no insurance at  all.  The Salvation Army dental                                                               
clinic does  not bill  Medicare or Medicaid,  he said,  so "we're                                                               
probably not  going to receive  any funds  from this, but  we see                                                               
the bill  as [meeting] a  tremendous need  for people who  are in                                                               
need of medical care and yet have no ability to pay for that."                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
4:27:50 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
GEORGE BIRD,  M.D., Tanana Chiefs  Conference (TCC),  stated that                                                               
TCC  supports HB  105.   He commented  that the  current Medicaid                                                               
program has  deficiencies in the  way that it funds  adult dental                                                               
services; people  need routine preventive  dental care,  not just                                                               
emergency care.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
DENA SUMMER  PEDEBONE, Tanana Chiefs Conference  (TCC) reiterated                                                               
that HB 105 would provide a valuable service to those in need.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
4:29:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
TOM BORENSTEIN,  D.D.S., Director  of Dental  Services, Southeast                                                               
Alaska Regional  Health Consortium  (SEARHC), stated  that access                                                               
to dentistry in Southeast Alaska  is limited for the underinsured                                                               
and  the  uninsured.    He  pointed  out  that  SEARHC  currently                                                               
delivers services  through a  federal grant  to the  uninsured in                                                               
Haines  and on  Prince  of  Wales Island;  the  demand for  those                                                               
services is  pretty large, he noted.   SEARHC opened a  clinic in                                                               
downtown  Juneau  last  year that  provides  dental  services  to                                                               
homeless people where  "we were oversubscribed the  day we opened                                                               
and we've  applied for an  expansion to that grant  that provides                                                               
those  services," he  said.   He remarked  that about  four years                                                               
ago,  SEARHC   began  a  children's  dental   health  program  in                                                               
conjunction  with the  Denali Kid  Care program,  which has  been                                                               
able  to  bring pediatric  dental  specialists  to a  numbers  of                                                               
Southeast  Alaska  communities.    Expanding  these  services  to                                                               
adults, he said, would be of benefit.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
4:33:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MARIE DARLIN,  AARP Capital City  Task Force, commented  that the                                                               
committee already  had a letter  from her  in support of  HB 105.                                                               
She  said,  "[HB  105]  is  really definitely  needed.    It's  a                                                               
preventive  aspect that  we really  need  to look  at, and  saves                                                               
money down the road."                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
SUSAN  PHIPPS, National  Alliance  for the  Mentally Ill  (NAMI),                                                               
stated that  she serves on  the NAMI  statewide board.   The NAMI                                                               
supports HB 105, she said.   She mentioned that anxiety disorders                                                               
cause  people  to  grind  their   teeth,  which  can  be  harmful                                                               
particularly when combined with certain medications.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
4:35:51 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR WILSON commented  that, though this bill will add  a lot to                                                               
the  Department of  Health and  Social Services  budget, it  will                                                               
prevent  other issues  in the  long run.   She  pointed out  that                                                               
there is a cap included in the bill.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
4:37:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   ANDERSON  disclosed   a  possible   conflict  of                                                               
interest; he  is on the  fundraising committee for  the Anchorage                                                               
Neighborhood Health Center.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  ANDERSON moved  to report  CSHB 105,  Version 24-                                                               
GH1081\G,  Mischel,  2/7/05,  out of  committee  with  individual                                                               
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
4:38:44 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
There being no objection, CSHB  105(HES) was moved from the House                                                               
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                

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