• Senate Bill 547 “Labor Region Bill” Signed into Law Today
• Senate Health Care Reform Committee Begins Public Hearings
• Healthcare Profession Comes Out Opposed to TABOR-TPA
• New TPA-TABOR Amendments Released, “Father of TABOR” Now Opposed
• Chair of Assembly Medicaid Reform Committee will not Seek Reelection
• New Legislative Bills – Recently Introduced
• Legislative Committee Public Hearings

Senate Bill 547 “Labor Region Bill” Signed into Law Today
Governor Doyle signed Senate Bill 547 into law today, which would move Sauk County nursing homes into the Dane, Iowa and Columbia County nursing home labor region.  Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) is the author of the Bill.  The financial impact on nursing homes in the new labor region composed of the Counties of Dane, Columbia, Iowa, and Sauk would vary by county.  Nursing homes in Dane, Iowa and Columbia Counties will likely experience a decrease in their nursing homes' direct care maximums by approximately 1% (approx. $1 per MA day decrease).  Nursing homes in Sauk County will see an increase of approximately 13.3% in their direct care maximums, with a potential increase in direct care payments of 13.3% (approx. $10 per MA day increase). Direct care costs comprise approximately 67% of total costs to nursing homes.

Senate Health Care Reform Committee Begins Public Hearings
Last month the Wisconsin Senate announced the establishment of a new Senate Health Care Reform Committee, which is being co-chaired by Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Senator Carol Roessler (R-Oshkosh).  This new 5-member committee is charged with examining many of the same issues that the Assembly Medicaid Reform Committee has been working on over the past year, including: rising health care costs in acute\primary care; long-term care reform; and, long-term care insurance.  The committee will hold a total of five public hearings, with at least one of the hearings devoted to “long-term care reform”. The Committee is to submit a report on its findings to the legislature by May 31, 2006.

The first of five public hearings has been scheduled (invited speakers only) in Milwaukee for tomorrow, Tuesday, April 11 at 10 a.m. in the T - Auditorium of Milwaukee Area Technical College, 700 W. State St.  Invited speakers representing health care providers, consumers and other interests will address issues related to the cost, quality and access to health care.  Among the discussion topics is the price of healthcare services in Southeast Wisconsin, the subject of a 2005 U.S. General Accounting Office study requested by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Congressman Paul Ryan.  

This public hearing and the future hearings present an excellent opportunity for the long-term healthcare profession to testify about the inadequate funding of Medicaid, CIP, COP, Family Care and Community Aids - and the adverse consequences to quality care the passage of TPA-TABOR could produce.

Healthcare Profession Comes Out Opposed to TABOR-TPA
Last Tuesday nearly the entire healthcare provider profession issued press releases stating opposition and serious concerns over the passage of the Taxpayer Protection Amendment (TPA), or TABOR-II as it is commonly referred to.  TPA-TABOR is the proposal to limit state and local government spending by amending the Constitution with mathematical formulas and prohibitions on unfunded mandates.

Press releases from the Provider Organization Summit, Wisconsin Hospital Association, Wisconsin Association of Health Plans (HMOs), Wisconsin Medical Society, Wisconsin Health Care Association and the Wisconsin Nurses Association.  In all the press releases, providers discussed the unintended consequences of under funding Medicaid and the cost-shifting that occurs, which increases health insurance premiums, co-pays and medical bills.  For long-term care providers, cost-shifting is nearly impossible due to there being a scarce population of private pay clients.  Therefore, TPA-TABOR could have the effect of forcing long-term care providers to make up financial losses by cutting areas that would impact quality care.

New TPA-TABOR Amendments Released, “Father of TABOR” Now Opposed
On other TPA-TABOR fronts, Senate leadership released a new version of TPA-TABOR (an 11-page Senate Substitute Amendment) that would place more restrictions on local government spending and reduce other spending restrictions that were being considered for state government.  The Assembly leadership is expected to release its own new version of TPA-TABOR this week, which will consist of 4-pages.  Since both proposals are expected to remove some spending restrictions on state government, the “Father of TABOR”, Representative Frank Lasee (R-Ledgeview) sent out a press release last Wednesday announcing that he no long supports the TPA-TABOR bills being debated.

Do not think with all the controversy and opposition that TPA-TABOR is dead.  TPA-TABOR is very much alive and when the Assembly makes its new 4-page proposal public – this is likely going to be the Amendment to the Constitution that the legislature will pass.  The Senate and Assembly Committees working on TPA\TABOR could announce an agreement and committee vote on a final proposal as early as this Wednesday.

Now more than ever, healthcare providers and advocates must contact their state senator and state assembly representative and ask them to “oppose any Constitutional Amendment that limits state and local spending through arbitrary mathematical formulas”.  The danger of a TPA-TABOR Constitutional Amendment is that if it does pass and become law, the nearly $1 Billion under funding of Medicaid, CIP, COP, Community Aids and Family Care will become locked into place forever.  In addition, since the mathematical formulas being used to restrict state and local government spending are based on the Consumer Price Index and state population – the under funding of healthcare and long-term programs could grow worse. 

Please, e-mail or call your state senator and state assembly representative today and tell them to oppose TPA-TABOR:  Click on this website to find out who your state legislators are.

Chair of Assembly Medicaid Reform Committee will not Seek Reelection
Rep. Curt Gielow (R-Mequon) announced today that he will not seek re-election to a third term in the State Assembly in November 2006.  Gielow, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Medicaid Reform and a member of the Assembly Committee on Health and the Assembly Committee on Insurance, has been a leading advocate of health care and health insurance policy during his four years in the Legislature.  The two-term Republican was first elected to the legislature in November 2002 in an open election for the newly redrawn 23rd Assembly District.  The seat includes most of Mequon, all of Thiensville, Bayside and Brown Deer, and part of the City of Milwaukee.  In announcing his decision, Gielow noted that he would be leaving office to pursue other opportunities in his professional and personal life.  Gielow, a small business entrepreneur, owns several small businesses which operate locally and nationally from offices in Wisconsin.

NEW LEGISALTIVE BILLS \ RECENTLY INTRODUCED

Senate Bill Introductions
SB 673. Substance Abuse (Roessler) Certification of substance abuse counselors, clinical supervisors, and prevention specialists and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. To S-Available for Scheduling.

Assembly Bill Introductions
AB-1140. Health Insurance (Gielow) Creates the Private Health Insurance Purchasing Corporation of Wisconsin; establishes a health insurance purchasing arrangement through the use of private accounts for all state residents; adopts federal law as it relates to health savings accounts for state income and franchise tax purposes. To Insurance.
AB-1146. Long Term Care (Krusick) Authorizes access by the long-term care ombudsman to a client or resident in a residential care apartment complex; imposes an annual assessment on occupied apartments of residential care apartment complexes; expands rights of residents; minimum staffing requirements for certain nursing homes; requires audits by the Legislative Audit Bureau; requires certain reports; caregiver background checks; quality of nursing home care. To Aging and Long-Term Care.
AB-1148. Health Coverage (Berceau) Assessment on large employers that reduce or eliminate health care coverage. To Insurance.
AB-1171. Healthy Wisconsin Authority (Gielow) Creates a Healthy Wisconsin Authority; requires study on a catastrophic reinsurance program for health care costs. To Insurance.
AB-1172. Elderly Crimes (Krawczyk) Increases penalties for crimes against people 65 and older. To Judiciary.

New LRB Co-Sponsorship Memos (Bills Not Yet Introduced)

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LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARINGS

TPA-TABOR Forum – Discussion\Debate by Supporters and Opponents
Tuesday, April 11, 2006   1:30 PM   University of Wisconsin – Fox Valley

Senate Select Committee on Health Care Reform
Tuesday, April 11, 2006   10:00 AM    Milwaukee Area Technical College
700 W. State Street, T Auditorium, Milwaukee.
Informational hearing to discuss GAO report 05-856 and health care cost, quality and access in Southeastern Wisconsin and the state as a whole. 

Senate Committee on Housing and Financial Institutions
Wednesday, April 12, 2006   11:00 AM    State Capitol, Room 300-SE.
Hearing on:
AB-96. Payment of property taxes when property is condemned.
AB-675. Compensation for the reduction in fair market value of private real property.
AB-681. Disclosing whether meth has been manufactured on residential real property.
AB-958. Civil liability exemption for assistance provided as a result of an emergency.
The committee may hold an executive session on any of the matters before the committee at the end of the public hearing.

Assembly Committee on Financial Institutions
Thursday, April 13, 2006   9:30 AM   State Capitol, Room 415-NW
Executive session (Committee Vote) on:
SB-619. Chapter 180 Revisions – Regulates mergers, conversions, and other business combinations.
AB-1153. Establishes a college savings program bank deposit trust fund and a college savings program credit union deposit trust fund.
AB-1163.  Limits liability of shareholders. 

Assembly Committee on Children and Families
Thursday, April 13, 2006   10:00 AM   State Capitol, Room 328-NW
SB-606. Placement for adoption of a child with a sibling who has been adopted or placed for adoption.
SB-655. Creates a special joint legislative committee on strengthening Wisconsin’s families.
CR-03-085. Update on DHFS recoupment of program benefit overpayments from program recipients.