Letter from Secretary Sebelius to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Submitting the Interagency Access to Health Care in Alaska Task Force Report

September 17, 2010

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. President:

I am respectfully submitting the enclosed report to Congress of the Interagency Access to Health Care in Alaska Task Force ("Task Force"). This report is in response to section 5104 of the Affordable Care Act as amended by section 10501, which established the Task Force to assess access to health care for beneficiaries of federal programs in Alaska, and to report to Congress its findings and recommendations for improving the delivery of health care in the state.

Task Force members were appointed by me and the Secretaries of Defense, the Army, the Air Force, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security. The Task Force held two meetings (July 16, 2010 and September 2, 2010) and conducted site visits and stakeholder listening sessions throughout Alaska, in a variety of health care facilities. In addition, members of the Task Force met with the Executive Director of the Alaska Health Commission, the Director of the Alaska Federal Healthcare Partnership, members of the Health Workforce Planning Coalition, and representatives of Alaska Native organizations. The Task Force's recommendations were formulated to identify specific steps that federal agencies could take to improve access to care in Alaska.

Their report makes a number of recommendations to enhance access to health care services in Alaska so that residents of the state have access to care that is comparable to the level and quality found in the rest of the nation. In addition, the Task Force lends support to some recommendations from other commissions or groups that have recently analyzed access to health care in Alaska.

I am also sending a copy of this report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

/S/
Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary of Health and
Human Services

Enclosure