Health and Social Services Committee hearing on Denali KidCare is Oct. 13

ANCHORAGE — A Senate Health and Social Services committee has scheduled a hearing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 13 to discuss how to help more of Alaska’s uninsured children and pregnant women receive vital health care coverage through the state’s Denali KidCare program.

The meeting is in room 220 of the Anchorage Legislative Information Office. Invited testimony will take place in the morning with public testimony in the afternoon.

The hearing will focus on Senate Bill 5, which increases income eligibility for Denali KidCare from 175 percent to 200 percent of Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPL) and reinstates similar provisions of a bill vetoed by Gov. Sean Parnell in 2010. Denali KidCare is part of the Alaska State Medicaid Program, which matches almost 70 percent of federal funds for health insurance for many working uninsured families with children whose incomes are modest, but too high to qualify for Medicaid. After Governor’s Parnell’s 2010 veto, the state lost $1.8 million in federal reimbursements in 2011 alone. If SB 5 does not pass, the loss of federal matching funds through 2017 is estimated at $14 million.

Although Denali KidCare program serves more than 7,900 Alaska children annually, almost 25,000 kids remained uninsured last year. SB5 would help an additional 1,300 children and 200 pregnant women receive the treatment and preventative care they need. Uninsured children are five times more likely not to have a regular doctor as insured children and four times more likely to use emergency rooms for care, often very late with more serious medical issues and unreimbursed at a much higher cost.

For more information, contact (907) 269-0144.