HB 209    COMMUNITY HEALTH AIDE GRANTS                                       
                                                                               
  Number 019                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN VEZEY read the title to HB 209 and noted its                        
  introduction by the House Health, Education and Social                       
  Services Committee, and called for testimony.                                
                                                                               
  Number 031                                                                   
                                                                               
  DEBORAH ERICKSON, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES,                  
  DIVISION OF PUBLIC HEALTH, joined the committee to express                   
  the department's support for HB 209.  She noted the state                    
  had been providing funds for the Alaska Native Health Board                  
  for years in order to provide money for non-profit Native                    
  health aides.  She stated the money was specifically                         
  provided for supervision and training of health aides, and                   
  the state was providing only about ten percent of the total                  
  funding.  She noted there was no need for legislation until                  
  two larger sized Native groups splintered away from the                      
  Alaska Native Health Board, which meant that funding could                   
  not be provided those groups.  She said Alaska might be                      
  subject to lawsuits unless funding for those groups was                      
  provided, which HB 209 provided for.                                         
                                                                               
  Number 104                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN VEZEY noted that under the statute, grants to                       
  qualified health organizations were not limited to those                     
  grandfathered in, but the $8,000 grants seemed to be                         
  available to everyone.                                                       
                                                                               
  Number 120                                                                   
                                                                               
  MS. ERICKSON stated in the definition of each health                         
  organization the statute allows health care organizations                    
  receiving aid in 1984 to receive funding, and it is not a                    
  problem for local organizations, but rather the regional                     
  corporations.                                                                
                                                                               
  Number 135                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN VEZEY stated he had a problem with the term                         
  "entitled" in the statute.  He wondered if it bothered the                   
  department that the state is obligated to pay an entitled                    
  fund.                                                                        
                                                                               
  Number 143                                                                   
                                                                               
  MS. ERICKSON stated there is a provision in the statute that                 
  limits the funds to the appropriation list in the original                   
  list.                                                                        
                                                                               
  Number 152                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN VEZEY asked, if the statute allowed almost anyone                   
  to claim the aid, why not just eliminate the law and open it                 
  up completely?                                                               
                                                                               
  Number 155                                                                   
                                                                               
  MS. ERICKSON stated the law provides controls for                            
  eligibility that should be kept, and it also provides                        
  guidelines and definitions on what state funds can be used                   
  for.  One concern is that the organizations taking funds do                  
  not use the funds for salaries, only for training and                        
  supervision.  That way, the state's liability is limited.                    
                                                                               
  Number 176                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN VEZEY asked what the state gained by limiting the                   
  funds to groups contracting to Indian Health Service groups                  
  from 1984, but no new groups.                                                
                                                                               
  Number 185                                                                   
                                                                               
  MS. ERICKSON stated it really does not limit the entry to                    
  the program.  She said most of the state was covered by one                  
  central organization at one time, which would allow it to                    
  enter the program anyway.                                                    
                                                                               
  Number 201                                                                   
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE FRAN ULMER moved passage of HB 209 from House                 
  State Affairs.                                                               
                                                                               
  Number 217                                                                   
                                                                               
  House Bill 209 was moved from House State Affairs by a 7-0                   
  vote.