Sponsor Statement for SCR 11

By: Senator Bert Sharp

As Alaska's senior community grows, it is necessary that we plan for the long-term care and needs of these citizens.

While it is the desirable goal of most families to provide home care for their elderly parents, the reality is that most will live in a long-term care facility. Either way, the costs of providing long-term care is becoming insurmountable to the state and to our private citizens.

In an effort to assure our senior citizens are getting the best care possible, the legislature, in 1996, established a working group to analyze long-term care services available in the state and their projected costs.

SCR 11 will create a long-term care task force. Their mission is to review the findings of the working group and to develop an equitable plan for providing an actuarially sound and affordable long-term care for all of Alaska's senior citizens.

I urge your support in passing this very important and necessary resolution. Thank you.