[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6253425,"mediaKeyId","3181379-d31704df38b31263307cc9c04d49c5e2","parentId",3181379,"title","Senate committee endorses concurrent resolution recognizing Mental Health Awareness Month and Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week","audioSeconds",383,"startMs",2451000,"endMs",2834000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3181379-d31704df38b31263307cc9c04d49c5e2&start=2451&end=2834","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3181379-d31704df38b31263307cc9c04d49c5e2/thumbnail_2451000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6253425/Alaska/Senate-committee-endorses-concurrent-resolution-recognizing-Mental-Health-Awareness-Month-and-Tardive-Dyskinesia-Awareness-Week","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6253425-65032db314d1b58c57fedb5d52ac5909/orig.mp4?Expires=1771177232&Signature=L6hrzLrgROT813V~eaVi~0Edf5kOasLPMnhlz9Dlfw3JnOkv5gUXrAlVLl8LIfEMsGzd6q1DxTHJUunCWu5iUrNzGJxw1FujlFdAbWiW33UO70FX3UfxBqpxgJG1bfZ9i7Iac7GpD2jHe7UuKYIiOIF-rjq474jbPTLfJOXG1~bsPmCnsD0uNRdANA6vtlaiGjFQMV269AA86cWWL4jAlh2p7PpXlnYBxv3yLK2c02JNPkq5l2NTc6Typh55AiJbNjol9BKoCXAaQ1CLPx-z6~LKNvNefIndKtFbJv93Jm3C6bRM3g5KahsW19EkbR4Z~lWCgEddzDa-l0ZGobS8AA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Alaska Legislature","date","2025-05-01T00:00:00Z","article","Juneau ' The Senate Health and Social Services Committee on May 1 moved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4 recognizing Mental Health Awareness Month and Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week.

Senator L. V. Gray Jackson, sponsor of the resolution, said the measure requests recognition of May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness Month to promote understanding, reduce stigma and support Alaskans affected by mental illness. \"Raising awareness, reducing stigma, and ensuring access to resources to those impacted, it's the very least that we can do,\" Jackson said.

Anne Ringstad, executive director of NAMI Alaska, provided invited testimony in support and said mental health and physical health are deeply interconnected. Ringstad highlighted the role of community supports and described tardive dyskinesia as an underdiagnosed side effect of long-term antipsychotic treatment that affects involuntary movement. She said the resolution has no fiscal note.

Chair Senator Gary Dunbar opened and closed public testimony with no members of the public offering additional remarks. Vice Chair moved the resolution from committee with no objections and no fiscal note.

The committee recorded the measure as moved from committee; sponsors and advocates said the resolution is intended to spur awareness and encourage community support for mental-health services.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","05/01/2025 03:30 PM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES","oneSentenceSummary","The Senate Health and Social Services Committee approved SCR 4 recognizing May as Mental Health Awareness Month and a week in May for tardive dyskinesia awareness after invited testimony from NAMI Alaska and no public opposition.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature Alaska, Alaska","taxId",78559,"location","Alaska","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6253430,"Senate committee advances bill to align Alaska Medicaid rules with federal behavioral-health parity requirements",677,1607000,2284000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3181379-d31704df38b31263307cc9c04d49c5e2&start=1607&end=2284","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3181379-d31704df38b31263307cc9c04d49c5e2/thumbnail_1607000.jpg","/articles/6253430/Alaska/Senate-committee-advances-bill-to-align-Alaska-Medicaid-rules-with-federal-behavioral-health-parity-requirements","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6253430-aa0e9dd149f2536b6891300ac45c81a7/orig.mp4?Expires=1771177232&Signature=KOGRiQJ6KX31tTJQTrcPuxDfDUnDJ24sxcfaWw5cn81Q9iknen8gReo7-6OMzYePAr2l4DrbcEvyvTMzhLEsx88QxPbC02eEbIwURhK729Q29GnW0LIea07ifrP2DTKkND5QK9HgaQzaUqPEe2WDyF0pbrK0N4uL74LUiAhEk97ytVK0DGt0CrTGOMCbb6ZqkIZ~2AJj5158T9cAZT62u0gdQObXLv1kOx45Dpad0BSH7NyY9XKjR27fUbJZshOTrMWHZra1dHvAJM8NnDDNEA-CR8Rh1lCCZ1hs6aQmHDJJA~XOM2Q40NQQfUoq~9C~QYrTyYmH7U2kWiQsHY9Nrw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Juneau ' The Senate Health and Social Services Committee voted May 1 to move Senate Bill 45 out of committee after hearing providers and advocates describe how Alaska's Medicaid documentation and regulatory framework can delay behavioral-health care.

SB 45 would require the Department of Health to align state Medicaid rules and practices with federal behavioral-health parity law, investigate complaints about behavioral-health coverage, and produce annual reports describing comparability of medical- and behavioral-health treatment limitations. The bill also directs the department to submit any necessary Medicaid plan amendments and conditions certain sections on federal approval.

Lance Johnson, chief operating officer of the Alaska Behavioral Health Association, told the committee that behavioral-health providers must follow roughly 130 pages of Alaska regulations while medical care is tied to a much shorter documentation standard. \"If you go to the doctor for a broken hand, you'll get an exam, you'll get an x-ray, you'll get a cast all on the same day,\" Johnson said. \"When you go to a behavioral health provider for a broken heart, you must do a screening intake week 1, an assessment week 2, a treatment plan week 3. If you're lucky, you'll get your first treatment service week 4.\" He warned the mismatch reduces clinical availability and leaves many untreated.

Maxwell Mercer, who runs children's mental-health services for Community Connections in Ketchikan, said his agency can serve about 20 percent of referred families because administrative burdens limit capacity. \"The administrative burden really gets in our way and really limits the number of kids and families that we can help,\" Mercer said.

Committee aide Ariel Wigan read the text of version A during the hearing; Wigan described provisions requiring annual reporting by March 1 on medical- and behavioral-health criteria for medical necessity, any numerical and non-numerical limits, and whether those criteria are applied comparably. The bill also calls for a one-time departmental report by March 1, 2026, describing methodology, market review, corrective steps and plain-language findings, and it conditions the effective date of sections on HHS approval of state Medicaid plan amendments by Dec. 31, 2025.

Committee members asked about fiscal sources referenced in the fiscal note; Susan Kessler and Tracy Domplin of the Department of Health confirmed the department has received some Mental Health Trust Authority funding and state mental-health general funds for related work and offered to provide additional detail.

Vice Chair Senator Tobin moved SB 45, version A, from committee with individual recommendations and an attached fiscal note dated Jan. 24, 2025 with OMB component number 2665. There were no objections and the bill was advanced.

Testimony emphasized that SB 45 is not an immediate fix but would mandate a process for parity review and corrective steps meant to persist beyond any single administration.","The Senate Health and Social Services Committee moved SB 45 from committee after testimony from behavioral-health providers and advocates who said current Medicaid documentation rules for behavioral health are burdensome and impair access to care; the bill would require reporting, a market review and federal Medicaid plan amendments.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6253435,"Senate committee hears testimony to expand Alaska infant learning eligibility from 50% to 25% delay threshold",1275,331000,1606000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3181379-d31704df38b31263307cc9c04d49c5e2&start=331&end=1606","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3181379-d31704df38b31263307cc9c04d49c5e2/thumbnail_331000.jpg","/articles/6253435/Alaska/Senate-committee-hears-testimony-to-expand-Alaska-infant-learning-eligibility-from-50-to-25-delay-threshold","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6253435-eb061ae7e1c603f2fd1d8b8a3539f11c/orig.mp4?Expires=1771177232&Signature=RLV3GeW5VEy8oOC1gSJitMy43JoD~DeFKKUHbAijuE7MrsLBeAnaa-YC0CCdtliIKAYZfVJqqGPNTKk-5RMAIyzZaSO5Q6lk2O2vEPoOpCNnY8k5eUp1EItOaswvCv~w8qrKKi3doQz2qkoi87RnwLoZ42xXyxgr175Q-KYoeFYJnuD2QwmCpccg~ikBDpS4NXkvE3lG~wCMlKyTys5OHZen~FOUU5RS9E~bXVunKLh9I08GcUoN7KownuHLddrqLaHTAFrczEhMYu~4e4g~oWsZNBFZIKWjLpTxzP9rKH7CP2OUFBAsshe4UoqfnPQIVpr9KGJS5gsGn87Z-Jvfqw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Juneau ' Supporters of Senate Bill 178 urged the Senate Health and Social Services Committee on May 1 to lower the Infant Learning Program's developmental-delay eligibility threshold from 50 percent to 25 percent and to add funding to serve a larger cohort of infants and toddlers.

The bill, sponsored by the committee, would expand early intervention services for children from birth to age 3. Proponents said the change would allow many more children to qualify for services earlier.

Niamh Dardis, director of the REACH Infant Learning Program and a longtime Juneau resident, told the committee SB 178 is \"a vital step towards ensuring that more young children with developmental delays receive early intervention during the most critical window of brain development.\" Dardis said lowering the threshold to 25 percent \"will allow up to 77 percent more children to access services they need before they enter kindergarten.\"

Stephanie Tucker, Infant Learning Program director for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, said Alaska's eligibility standard lags the rest of the country and that local programs face rising demand with static funding. \"Our funding has been the same for the last 10 years,\" Tucker said, adding that ILP programs are mandated to serve every child referred and that capacity \"gets reached pretty fast.\"

Mark Lackey, executive director of CCS Early Learning in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, said local early-childhood programs are seeing more children with delays and that delayed access to ILP services can lead to long-term special-education needs. \"Early intervention could have really helped,\" Lackey said, describing a child he adopted who later required an individualized education program through high school.

Parents who testified described cases they said underline the need for expanded eligibility. Amy Rudd of Wasilla said her son scored 38 percent on an ILP evaluation but was told the program required a 50 percent delay to qualify; she said access to state services is critical for families who cannot obtain private therapy. Michelle Love, who has adopted a related child, said her child received one year of ILP services and improved, but that the child's delays reemerged after service ended because he did not meet the higher threshold.

Susan Kessler, infant learning program manager with the Department of Health, confirmed the department has received some Mental Health Trust Authority funds and other mental-health-related general funds for ILP projects and said staff could provide additional fiscal details to the committee on request.

Chair Senator Gary Dunbar set an amendment deadline of 5 p.m. Monday, May 5, and noted SB 178 will be referred to the finance committee for consideration of fiscal impacts. Committee members asked staff to work with the finance committee on funding details.

The hearing combined public and invited testimony; no committee vote was taken on SB 178 during the May 1 session.

Supporters and program staff urged lawmakers to approve the eligibility change and to consider accompanying funding to expand capacity; committee action on amendments and fiscal analysis is pending.","Supporters, parents and program directors urged the Senate Health and Social Services Committee to pass SB 178 to lower the developmental-delay eligibility threshold for Alaska's Infant Learning Program and increase funding to serve more children; committee set an amendment deadline and will refer the bill to finance.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Senate committee endorses concurrent resolution recognizing Mental Health Awareness Month and Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week

Senate committee advances bill to align Alaska Medicaid rules with federal behavioral-health parity requirements

Senate committee hears testimony to expand Alaska infant learning eligibility from 50% to 25% delay threshold