Press Release: Draft Agenda for Upcoming Senate HESS Meeting

On November 8 and 9, the Senate Health, Education and Social Services Subcommittee on Health Care and Welfare will be meeting at the Mat-Su LIO to discuss the future of health care and welfare. We will be discussing Medicaid, welfare reform, rural health care, the certificate of need program, private health insurance access, and bio-terrorism preparedness and response.

Our focus during these meetings will be to gather information to prepare us for the upcoming session. We hope to determine if there are issues that need to be addressed in legislation.

As always, the legislature is concerned with the cost of providing Medicaid coverage. We will be exploring cost-containment measures to ensure that Medicaid coverage is provided in the most efficient way possible. However, we do not plan on having a line-item budget discussion. This meeting is intended to give us a general overall picture of the programs. We hope to include an overview of anticipated changes to the Federal programs, particularly in light of the events since September 11, 2001.

We are asking that public testimony be submitted in writing. All written testimony will be included in information given to committee members and considered in any concluding report.

Attached is a draft agenda for the meetings. If you have any suggestions, questions or requests, please feel free to contact my aide Aurora Hauke at (907)376-3370.

Thank you for your attention to these issues. I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you at the meetings.

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November 8, 2001

9:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m.	Opening remarks (Senator Lyda Green)
9:15 a.m.-10:15 a.m.	Rural health care: role of the State of Alaska, the federal government and the native non-profit corporations (Division of Medical Assistance, Denali Commission, Alaska Native Health Board)
10:15 a.m.-10:30 a.m.	Overview of forecasted federal changes to formula programs
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.	Overview of the current Medicaid program, budget trends, etc. (Legislative Finance Division, committee staff, Division of Medical Assistance)
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.	Lunch
1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.	Medicaid fraud (Medicaid Fraud Unit)
3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.	Public testimony, committee discussion

November 9, 2001

9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.	Welfare reform status (American Institute for Full Employment, Division of Public Assistance)
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.	State bio-terrorism response (Division of Public Health)
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.	Certificate of need program (Department of Health and Social Services, Alaska State Nursing Home and Hospital Association, medical community)
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.	Lunch
1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.	Access to private health insurance (Division of Insurance, Division of Medical Assistance, private insurance representatives, Chamber of Commerce)
2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.	Public testimony
3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.	Committee discussion: where to go from here? Cost containment strategies, access, coverage, and legislation needed. Possible request to non-legislative persons to meet in subgroups to bring further information and suggestions to the Legislature by February 1, 2002.

| Sen. Green's Page | Senate HESS Committee's Page |

The Official Web Site of the House and Senate Legislative Majorities
for the 22nd Alaska State Legislature
To Report Technical Problems or Contact Webmasters