Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is preparing an executive order to split the state’s largest agency in half, he said Tuesday.
Under the order, which will be introduced at the start of the legislative session, the Department of Health and Social Services will be split into a Department of Health, in charge of Medicaid, public health and public assistance, and a Department of Family and Community Services, in charge of children’s services, juvenile justice, Pioneer Homes and the Alaska Psychiatric Institute.
The Department of Family and Community Services will have about 1,800 employees; the Department of Health will have about 1,500. According to the state’s latest available workforce profile, that would make them the second and fourth-largest state departments, respectively.
Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum said the split will make the two new agencies more efficient. Currently, Medicaid is such a large component of the combined agency that it absorbs the vast majority of the department’s administrative time. That became a significant problem during the pandemic, he said.
“We cover such a broad range of subjects, that you really only have time to hop from fire to fire,” Crum said. “We actually worked with and talked with our division directors, and a lot of them have actually said it makes it more difficult for them to actually perform the functions of their division if they have Medicaid in the room, because Medicaid is the conversation driver.”
The Alaska Legislature will have 60 days to disapprove the executive order. If lawmakers take no action, it will go into effect July 1.
The cost of the split was not immediately available; Crum and others said they expect it to be available by Feb. 15, when Dunleavy is required to submit any budget revisions to the Alaska Legislature. Crum said he expects initial costs to be higher because a second commissioner’s office will be needed. He believes the move will save money in the longer term because of efficiency gains.
It’s the department’s biggest change since the first Alaska legislature created it as the Department of Health and Welfare in 1959. The department was renamed the Department of Health and Social Services in 1971, but its duties remained the same.
This is a developing story. Check back for more.
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