Senate subcommittee takes up welfare issue

MAT-SU -- In less than a year, many federal welfare program recipients will be facing the 60-month lifetime limit on welfare assistance, which may cause some significant changes in the way social services are provided.

To prepare for the legislative action that will need to be in place before the deadline, as well as to address other issues facing Alaska's health care, a subcommittee chaired by state Sen. Lyda Green, R-Mat-Su, met recently at the Mat-Su Legislative Information office. That group, the Alaska Senate Health, Education and Social Services Subcommittee on Health Care and Welfare, also discussed welfare reform, rural health care, the certificate of need program and other related issues.

No action was taken on any of the items, but the group did take testimony from concerned individuals who attended the meeting.

Jerry Burnett, a staffer for Green, explained Monday some of the pertinent issues discussed at the hearing. One such issue, he said, was the potential effect of the 60-month deadline on Bush communities. Some, he said, may be exempted from the cutoff, although there is a harsh price to pay for that exemption.

"In certain Bush areas, if long-term unemployment is greater than 50 percent, they're not subject to that [cutoff date]," Burnett said. "There are a number of small, particularly Native villages who have never developed jobs in a cash economy."

An allotment was made through the federal welfare reform package that went into effect in 1997, which allows continued service for up to 20 percent of those on the state welfare rolls.

Those select slots are reserved for people who may be handicapped, mentally ill or otherwise unable to work and require some form of ongoing assistance.

Burnett said one choice may be for the state to find and institute some form of alternative assistance.

In fact, that alternative was recently suggested by the American Institute for Full Employment, Burnett said.

"They did a study of our welfare program in Alaska," Burnett said. "They recommended we have a separate state program . . . for people that can never get off [the welfare rolls] . . . and use state maintenance effort funding."

Medicaid fraud, a situation that often sometimes goes hand-in-hand with welfare participation, was also discussed.

"It's the end of the traditional welfare program," Burnett said, "people who qualify for Medicaid because they qualify for AFDC [Aid to Families with Dependent Children]. Our welfare load has gone down . . . but these people who get off of welfare still don't make enough [to afford health insurance] . . . and continue to be on Medicaid.

The Medicaid rolls don't go down, necessarily."

New primary-care facilities in Bush communities were also a topic of discussion at the committee hearing, as was the growing cost of health care.

Over the past 10 years, Burnett said, the cost of health care has leaped.

"Ten years ago, Medicaid accounted for about 10 percent of the state budget," Burnett said. "Now it's about 20 percent of the state budget."

Ultimately, Burnett said, the hearings gave the subcommittee a chance to discuss the issues in the public setting and give the group a jump-start on some of the issues.

"The hearings were to . . . have a public forum to discuss . . . the issues that relate to the cost of providing health care in Alaska -- to the state in particular."