Legislature(2009 - 2010)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/25/2009 08:00 AM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation: Key Campaign | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 25, 2009
8:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Bob Herron, Co-Chair
Representative John Coghill
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Sharon Cissna
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Joe Paskvan, Vice Chair
Senator Johnny Ellis
Senator Joe Thomas
MEMBERS ABSENT
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Wes Keller, Co-Chair
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Lindsey Holmes
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Bettye Davis, Chair
Senator Fred Dyson
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Representative Beth Kerttula
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: KEY CAMPAIGN
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No Previous Action to Record
WITNESS REGISTER
EMILY ENNIS, Executive Director
Fairbanks Resource Agency;
President
Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of the Key Coalition
of Alaska.
FRED VILLA
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of the Key Coalition.
KAMA GREGORY
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of the Key Coalition.
DAYNA MCGUIRE
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of the Key Coalition.
RIC NELSON
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the importance of services
for the Developmentally Disabled.
JIM BECK, Executive Director
Access Alaska
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of the Key Coalition.
SHAWN WOODARD
Fairbanks Resource Agency
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of the home direct
care workers.
MICHAELLA MADDOX
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about programs for
developmentally disabled.
JANET MADDOX
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the loss of direct service
care professionals.
STEVE LESKO, President
Key Coalition
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support for the Key Campaign.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:01:19 AM
VICE CHAIR JOE PASKVAN called the joint meeting of the House and
Senate Health and Social Services Standing Committees to order
at 8:01 a.m. Representative Herron and Senators Paskvan and
Ellis were present at the call to order. Representatives
Coghill, Lynn, and Cissna and Senator Thomas arrived as the
meeting was in progress. Senator Hoffman and Representative
Kerttula were also in attendance.
^Presentation: Key Campaign
8:01:48 AM
VICE CHAIR PASKVAN announced that the only order of business
would be a presentation on the Key Campaign.
EMILY ENNIS, Executive Director, Fairbanks Resource Agency;,
President, Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities,
said that there are 12,000 Alaskans with developmental
disabilities. She explained that developmental disability
occurs before the age of 22, and may be noted at birth or
acquired later. She reported that there was sometimes a
diagnosis, but that it was generally a lifelong limitation which
required some support or service. She described the mission of
the KEY coalition "to support and promote the dignity, status,
and equality of all Alaskans with disabilities." She opined
that bias and inequity still existed for the disabled. She
allowed that extraordinary strides had been made in Alaska, but
that the developmentally disabled (DD) management plan had been
neglected. She explained that the DD system offered hope for a
full and conclusive life, it helped families stay together, and
it assured that every individual was valued.
8:08:53 AM
FRED VILLA, said that he was a recreational therapist and a
provider, but that now he was also on the other side. He
described the disability that his son was born with. Although
it was seven months before the disability was diagnosed, he was
fortunate in that having a diagnosis allowed them to receive
services, and not be placed on a waiting list. He said that the
phenomenal services included an educational therapist, speech
therapist, occupational therapist, and physical therapist, but
that the "mountain of paperwork, navigating through the forms
and the issues while you're going through a grieving process,
trying to understand why this happened" was overwhelming. He
explained how important the social network was for his entire
family. He spoke about the importance of bringing the DD
community into the workforce. He emphasized the need for
skilled workers to train the DD workforce. He appealed for the
necessary services without any waiting lists.
8:14:07 AM
KAMA GREGORY, said that she represented her son, and other
infants like him. She spoke about the tremendous difference
that infant learning and early intervention had made for him.
She said that he was diagnosed, but placed on a waiting list.
She said that she advocated for him and, after 6 months, he was
able to receive services. She said that the early intervention
therapy was invaluable, and that he now walked and spoke. She
emphasized that the need for infant learning and early
intervention was so important. She said that the funding for
infant learning had been flat for the prior five years. She
referred to studies which concluded that an investment in early
learning between ages 0 to 3, paid big dividends in the future.
She asked for a funding increment of $2 million to operate the
infant learning programs to capacity.
8:20:26 AM
DAYNA MCGUIRE, said that she worked with her friend, Ric Nelson.
She said that he spoke to the five years before about the wait
list for waiver services. She stated that Ric had cerebral
palsy, and that he wanted to share some of his successes.
8:21:18 AM
RIC NELSON, said that he had waited for 8.5 years for services.
He shared his accomplishments, his dreams, and his successes.
8:23:26 AM
MS. MCGUIRE recounted that Ric was now finishing his Associates
of Arts (AA) in small business management from the University of
Alaska. She shared that he wanted to continue his education for
his Bachelor of Arts, and that he wanted to own a small
business. She noted that he had travelled and advocated for
people with disabilities. She shared his request for continued
funding to remove people from the waiting list, and to maintain
the current waiver programs that had contributed to his success.
8:24:28 AM
JIM BECK, Executive Director, Access Alaska, said that a strong
home and community based provider system was critical to meet
the needs for long term care. He referred to the 2006 Lewin
Group report that forecast for long term care costs to
quadruple, while the Alaskan elder population would triple. He
referred to the July, 2008, AARP report, "A Balancing Act: State
Long-Term Care Reform," which stated that "Medicaid, our
nation's single largest source of funding for long term services
and supports does not provide the range of choices people want.
Instead, it continues to allocate a disproportionate share of
its resources for institutional services." He went on to
summarize the report, and said that on average, Medicaid dollars
can support nearly 3 adults in home and community based services
for every 1 person in a nursing home. He shared that home and
community based service was more cost effective, and more
responsive to people with disabilities. He noted that Alaska
had a balanced funding between institutional Medicaid and home
and community based services, but he added that many people were
still being housed in nursing homes against their desire for
home care. He opined that the rate setting for home care
providers was a symptom of the approach to long term care policy
in Alaska that de-legitimized home and community based
providers. He summarized about the lack of financial support
for home care providers from both Medicaid and the state. He
reported that home care were well run, cost efficient
businesses. He shared his concern that the institutional health
care lobby was second in size only to the oil industry lobby.
He concluded with this message: "Help us keep our system strong
and we will continue to help keep all Alaskans at home, in their
communities, working, playing, and thriving for more decades to
come."
8:31:10 AM
SHAWN WOODARD, Fairbanks Resource Agency, said that shortly
after moving to Alaska in 2000, he started working with Adult
Learning Programs Of Alaska (ALPA) and that the developmentally
disabled (DD) community was now his extended family. He
reported that work in the DD community paid half that of work
outside that community. He asked for a fund increase for direct
service provider wages. He explained that continuity of support
personnel was paramount for the DD community.
8:37:24 AM
MICHAELLA MADDOX, said that she was on the wait list of
services. She shared her dreams to work, to have her own
apartment, to get married, and to live independently. She asked
for funding support for services to help her reach her goals.
JANET MADDOX, said that her daughter, Michaella, attended the
infant learning program for 3 years, and after that program, she
attended the special educations pre-school. She explained that
Michaella needed help learning the skills to match her
independence. She opined that the direct service care
professionals were transferring to higher paid jobs. She
requested the funding to eliminate the wait list for services,
to increase the living wage of direct service professionals, and
to increase the state early intervention and infant learning
programs.
8:41:05 AM
STEVE LESKO, President, Key Coalition, said that these stories
were symptomatic, "it was the best of times, and it was the
worst of times." He applauded the efforts of the legislature
and its impact, and he pointed out that disabled people were
institution free. He celebrated legislation that would
eliminate the wait list for disability services. He decried
that community programs were eroding, and he announced that
somebody had to champion this cause. He opined that SB 32 was
"a bright light," and he referred to it as "the community
preservation act." He asked for justice, and he stressed that
"justice is something you create." He referred to the slogan
"Got KEY?" and concluded by stating, "if you got KEY, you got
justice, and if you got justice, you will be the architects of
the future of Alaska for our community programs and for our
families, our brothers and sisters who experience disabilities."
8:47:03 AM
MS. ENNIS thanked the committee.
8:47:13 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the joint
meeting of the House and Senate Health and Social Services
Standing Committees was adjourned at 8:47 a.m.
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