House advances complex care homes for behavioral health patients

The Alaska House of Representatives voted 39-0 Wednesday to approve the Senate's modified version of HB 73. The bill creates a new license category for residential facilities that serve people with behavioral health conditions who cannot access care under the current system.

The measure establishes complex care residential homes similar to assisted living facilities. The homes are designed for people with conditions such as schizophrenia who do not qualify for existing group homes built primarily for physical disabilities.

Representative Genevieve Mina sponsored the bill. She said people with behavioral health conditions face barriers to accessing home and community-based services. She said individuals in group homes or assisted living homes are primarily people who have physical disabilities. She said it is hard to qualify for those homes if you have a cognitive issue such as behavioral health problems.

Representative Sarah Vance said she had heard from constituents whose family members could not access care under the current system. She cited one case of a daughter with schizophrenia who did not have other qualifying conditions and never qualified for existing services. Vance said the bill addresses people who fall through the cracks.

The Senate delayed the effective date by one year to July 1, 2027. Mina said the delay gives the Department of Health time to develop service standards and reimbursement structures for the new facility type.

Mina described the bill as the first part of a broader Department of Health initiative to expand behavioral health care options. After the bill becomes law, the department will continue work to determine what services and providers will be part of these homes. The department will establish reimbursement rates to pay providers.

The bill now moves to the governor for signature. If signed, the new license category will take effect July 1, 2027.