Did you know that Alaska has the fastest growing elderly population in the country? Over the next 20 years, according to the Labor Department, the number and percentage of older Alaskans in the state will increase dramatically. In 2018, the population of age 65 and older is expected to triple to 92,356, up from 32,729 in 1998. Older Alaskans will comprise almost 12 percent of the total population in 2018, up from 5.3% in 1998. All this considered, you may be interested to know Alaska is also the least prepared of all the states to meet the needs of our aging population.

The Labor Department projects that the Municipality of Anchorage should see the largest increase in older Alaskans (+23,412), then Matanuska-Susitna Borough (+7,498), the Fairbanks North Star Borough (+6,246); Kenai Peninsula Borough (+6,089); Juneau Borough (+3,319); Ketchikan Borough (+2,077); Valdez-Cordova census area (+1,143); and finally, the Kodiak Island Borough (+1,006). These combined areas should account for 85 percent of the growth in the senior population in the next 20 years.

Clearly, the State of Alaska needs to prepare for this increase and ensure that our senior programs are adequate to meet the needs of our elderly. With our aging population there is an increased demand for assisted living facilities and many of our elderly prefer to live in the family environment rather than being in nursing homes or other institutions.

Today we have approximately 278 frail elders in Alaska on general relief that live in assisted living homes. If it were not for assisted living homes these elders would have to be placed in the facilities such as Denali Center, or the Pioneers' Home. In the Pioneers' Home the daily rate is $280 per person with an annual cost of $90,520.00. At Denali Center the daily rate per person is $345.00 with the annual cost amount to $124,925.00. Compare these figures with the $35.00 per elder per day that the State of Alaska currently pays caregivers in private assisted living homes. This is $12,756.75 per elder annually. HB 258 would provide a long overdue raise for Assisted Living Providers to the amount to $75.00 per elder per day, which amounts to only $27,375.00 per elder per year. This is still considerably less than the State expense per elder in other state facilities.

Our hope is that the passage of HB 258 will lead to the expansion of assisted living facilities for elderly individuals on general relief, as well as a reduction of general relief costs for frail elders in Alaska.