Behavioral health providers urge $30 million boost as system strains
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Summary
Behavioral health providers from Southeast Alaska told the Senate Finance Committee the state’s system is in crisis and asked lawmakers to add $30 million to the operating budget to stabilize services and reduce waitlists.
Juneau — Behavioral health providers from Southeast Alaska told the Alaska Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 26 that the state’s behavioral health system is at a breaking point and urged lawmakers to add $30,000,000 to the operating budget to stabilize services.
The request came during public testimony on Senate Bill 56, the operating budget, and Senate Bill 58, the mental health budget. Dr. Victoria Kildall, chief learning officer for the Alaska Behavioral Health Association, said Alaska faces “the highest youth suicide rate in the country” and rising opioid overdose deaths, and that underfunding forces people into emergency rooms, jails and foster care. “Feeding our health services are not optional. They are lifesaving,” Kildall said.
Why it matters: Witnesses said underfunding reduces available services, increases waitlists and undermines providers’ ability to hire and retain qualified staff. Dustin Marra, who identified himself as working with Residential Youth Care in Ketchikan, said many providers are operating at a deficit because reimbursement rates have not kept pace with the cost of care. “Those lines for many providers have crossed, so cost of care is higher than what we are able to be reimbursed,” Marra said.
Supporting details: Connor Pope, director of Rendezvous Senior Day Services in Ketchikan, said rising costs make expanding services difficult and urged support for capital and behavioral health budgets to maintain community-based supports. Multiple testifiers emphasized that gaps in community treatment shift costs to higher-cost settings and increase harm for people with behavioral health needs.
Discussion vs. decision: Public testimony requested budget increases and system stabilization; the committee did not take votes during this hearing. Committee members indicated only that public testimony would continue in later sessions.
Ending: The Senate Finance Committee continues to take public testimony on operating and mental health budgets at subsequent hearings; no formal action on the $30 million request was recorded during the Feb. 26 session.