SB  56-HOME HEALTH AGENCIES/HOSPITALS/HOSPICES                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
VICE-CHAIRMAN KELLY asked Elmer Lindstrom to address SB 56, and                                                                 
announced that Senator Wilken will take the lead on most of the                                                                 
discussion as he was co-chairman of the Long-Term Care Task Force                                                               
(LTCTF).                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Number 065                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR. ELMER LINDSTROM, Special Assistant to the Department of                                                                     
Health & Social Services, briefly stated SB 56 has two primary                                                                  
purposes.  First, it would allow the department to continue to                                                                  
provide a licensing regime for home health agencies which it has                                                                
been doing under the general powers of the department for some                                                                  
time.  Recently the Department of Law recommended the department                                                                
acquire specific statutory authority to license this type of                                                                    
agency. The bill is technical in nature, giving explicit                                                                        
authority to the department to continue licensing these agencies.                                                               
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
More importantly, MR. LINDSTROM continued, the legislation also                                                                 
gives the department the ability to disclose to the public                                                                      
licensing reports on all of the types of facilities and agencies.                                                               
It is a good consumer protection measure, and useful information                                                                
for persons shopping for a type of facility.  He said it's a                                                                    
"clean little bill," endorsed by the LTCTF and the department.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MR. LINDSTROM brought up one suggested amendment.  The home                                                                     
health language is placed in AS 18.28 which relates to state                                                                    
assistance for community health aide programs and has no relation                                                               
to the additional material being added to AS 18.28. Department                                                                  
staff suggested that AS 18.18 would be a more appropriate place                                                                 
to put the language. If the committee is interested in making                                                                   
that change, MR. LINDSTROM requested that his staff be able to                                                                  
work with Legal Services to quickly resolve it.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
Number 115                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
VICE-CHAIRMAN KELLY stated it's a good idea, and he recommended                                                                 
that the amendment be drafted before the series of bills is again                                                               
taken up by the committee.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WILKEN commented that SB 56 relates to Recommendation #3                                                                
of the LTCTF, and he referred to the report backup.  He said this                                                               
legislation has the wholehearted endorsement of the task force                                                                  
and the committee.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
VICE-CHAIRMAN KELLY mentioned that Mr. Dwight Becker is on                                                                      
teleconference, and asked Mr. Becker if he is available to answer                                                               
questions on SB 56 or any of the other bills.  MR. BECKER                                                                       
responded he would address SB 57 and SB 58.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WILKEN commented that SB 56 opens the record, and asked                                                                 
if it is essentially a consumer information bill.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MR. LINDSTROM replied "absolutely," and the prohibition on being                                                                
able to disclose this information is a relic of an old federal                                                                  
law.  SENATOR WILKEN asked if the legislation protects identifi-                                                                
cation of specific clients or personal data.  MR. LINDSTROM                                                                     
responded he's very certain the licensing reports would always                                                                  
protect the confidentiality of clients.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
Number 157                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR ELTON mentioned to the zero fiscal note on SB 56.  He                                                                   
asked if staff would go through the files to purge client names                                                                 
when someone comes in to ask for disclosure of records.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR. LINDSTROM replied he doesn't believe the license reports                                                                    
would contain confidential information on individual patients.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WILKEN asked Mr. Livey if he would like to add to the                                                                   
discussion on SB 56.  He declined to do so.