2:31:36 PM SB 87-GRANTS FOR SENIORS' MEDICAL CARE  CHAIR EGAN announced SB 87 to be up for consideration. 2:31:40 PM SENATOR FRENCH, sponsor of SB 87, said he would answer questions. CHAIR EGAN noted that some people had signed up to testify. 2:32:28 PM BOB DOLL, President, Retired Public Employees of Alaska (RPEA), said they supported SB 87. 2:32:50 PM SENATOR PASKVAN joined the committee. MR. DOLL said at some point he would present some survey data and offer a financial solution to the dilemma of unfunded obligations left for this legislature. Buy, today his message is simple and straight forward - an appeal for simple equity. He explained that decades ago the State of Alaska opted to shift its retiree health care burden to Medicare when the retiree reached 65. Retirees didn't object then and don't object now. But the federal government has resisted the establishment of a variable rate for various states envisioning, probably, a quagmire of appeals and rulings as economic circumstances changed in each state. The result here has been that health care providers, particularly in Anchorage and Fairbanks, have turned away Medicare patients citing inadequate reimbursement rates - a tragedy for all Medicare eligibles including public employee retirees. From the viewpoint of pure economics, the situation exists now where a state or municipal retiree may not be able to find medical care in two of Alaska's major population centers. For any retiree who requires medical attention on a regular basis the predictable reaction for the over-65 person is to move out of the state and to one where the doctors will serve his medical needs. If he or she chooses to do so, the state and municipalities lose all of the economic benefit that should flow from having that person as a resident. He mentioned that members are familiar with the Alaska Commission on Aging and ISER reports that indicate what the value of having those retirees in-state can be. The retiree continues to receive a retirement check, but they can spend it elsewhere. That is not a logical objective for Alaska and this bill gives them a chance to correct it. He said approximately one-third of RPEA members live out-of-state and that's not a number they are anxious to increase. 2:35:50 PM MR. DOLL asked them to imagine that they had completed 30 years of public service in Alaska and paid into their retirement fund every month and made a deal and kept their end of the bargain. But on your 65th birthday, you find that overnight, primary medical care is no longer available - for reasons that have nothing to do with any of the participants of the state or the individual. It seems like a deception to members who have enjoyed medical insurance coverage since they retired but when they reach 65 suddenly find it's no longer available and the state severs its connection with them for this purpose with no apparent further concern. No one has planned it that way, but the sense of deception persists. He said there is a solution; the congressional delegation has done its part in convincing the Congress to make an exception to the normal Medicare rules. The state may legally overcome the reimbursement rate gap and SB 87 is a vehicle to both fulfill Medicare eligible expectations and to keep retirees in the state. He urged its passage. SENATOR DAVIS asked if once you are 65 you are automatically no longer covered by the state and have to use Medicare. You can't go back and use the retirement plan at all. But up to age 65 you can. MR. DOLL replied that is correct. MARIE DARLIN, AARP Capital City Task Force, said they supported SB 87. She said they have all the same issues Mr. Doll stated. Even with state health insurance, when you hit age 65, Medicare becomes first provider and unless you have that, the rest of it isn't worth anything. From a federal retiree viewpoint, the same thing applies. The problem is when you have Medicare as primary provider and some doctors won't accept Medicare patients. 2:39:07 PM CHAIR EGAN closed public testimony. SENATOR PASKVAN moved to report SB 87 from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. There were no objections and it was so ordered. 2:39:51 PM At ease from 2:39 to 2:41 p.m. 2:41:47 PM Finding no further business, Chair Egan adjourned the meeting at 2:41 p.m.