Reps. Fields, Prax discuss DHSS split, other Alaska health care initiatives – State of Reform

Members of the Alaska Home of Representatives have been engaged on a number of well being care initiatives throughout the 2022 legislative session. On this dialog, Rep. Mike Prax (R-North Pole) and Rep. Zack Fields (D-Anchorage) focus on their well being coverage priorities with State of Reform.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued an government order to restructure the Division Well being and Social Companies into two departments originally of the 2022 legislative session. The manager order divides the division into the Division of Well being and the Division of Household and Neighborhood Companies. Prax mentioned the cut up ought to result in some alternatives that can make Alaskans completely satisfied.

“We’re in all probability going to have the ability to scale back spending on well being care,” Prax mentioned. “It’s such a giant division now that we’re including more cash for administration. Proper now, the entire division is so busy they don’t have the time to commit to asking the larger questions, and seeing how one service impacts one other. Is there duplication?”

Fields mentioned the division’s cut up could have been probably the most controversial a part of the Home’s legislative session.

“I don’t suppose the notion of dividing it was controversial; simply the tempo and nature of stakeholder engagement,” Fields mentioned. “I might’ve pushed it out for an additional yr of stakeholder engagement.”

Fields mentioned the objective might be to implement the division’s division with out disruption to companies, or monetary hiccups.

“Hopefully, it’s a easy course of the place you’ve bought a number of strands of federal funding, ensuring it’s not disrupted,” Fields mentioned. “I hope the staff is profitable in navigating it.”

Fields and Prax additionally mentioned Alaska’s well being care workforce scarcity. There aren’t sufficient well being care employees to fill the demand for companies in Alaska, and job vacancies within the business are growing. The business had a projected job progress fee of seven.6 p.c over the subsequent 10 years, with a projected 5,000 new jobs, which was greater than another sector. Employers continuously should recruit employees from different states to fill positions, and non-residents fill 11.3 p.c of the state’s well being care jobs. Twenty-one p.c of the state’s key hospital and nursing dwelling positions are vacant.

Prax mentioned Fairbanks Memorial Hospital is having hassle recruiting employees, however a brand new apprenticeship program there that trains folks for licensed sensible nurse, licensed nursing assistant, and different certifications might assist with that. 

“There aren’t sufficient folks making it by way of nursing faculty, so that they’re making an attempt to begin their very own coaching program,” Prax mentioned. “If somebody needs to be concerned within the well being care business, there might be one thing near an apprenticeship program for them.”

Fields mentioned there isn’t a query the state wants extra sources within the nursing business. 

“We’ll want extra applications like that apprenticeship program,” Fields mentioned. “I believe the place we must be going is employee-driven applications the place individuals are paid a dwelling wage with coaching. We have to additionally align that with faculty credit score. [The Alaska Primary Care Association] (APCA) is a mannequin in how to do this. We have to help APCA, and [the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association] as long-term workforce options.”

A major focus for lawmakers, particularly associated to psychological well being care, has been on establishing Disaster Now, a program for well being disaster mitigation that connects folks with sources on the onset of a disaster, their restoration, and follow-up care, Prax mentioned. This system can function an alternative choice to having folks despatched to jail or detention facilities on the onset of a psychological well being disaster.

“They’re making an attempt to arrange a program the place folks can get much less intensive care,” Prax mentioned. “It is going to be some longer-term care to assist folks stabilize their state of affairs in an atmosphere much less formal and costly than a hospital, and extra acceptable than a jail. That ought to work higher than what we’ve bought going now. The federal government has, by way of the regulatory course of, been offering for an emergency license or short-term license so [Crisis Now] can go to work whereas their state software is being processed. I believe that can assist, specifically, with psychological well being.”

Prax additionally expects to see extra sufferers using telehealth companies shifting ahead.

“Telehealth will develop into extra everlasting,” Prax mentioned. “I believe that can scale back the price of well being care fairly a bit.”

The legislative course of has additionally given lawmakers an opportunity to deal with correcting some fiscal practices, Fields mentioned.

“Once you reside by way of years of austerity, cuts add up over time,” Fields mentioned. “We reversed a few of these cuts and bought again to baseline degree funding. We funded our Medicaid allocations. In earlier years, we acted like that wasn’t crucial.”