Wisconsin LTC Update (Monday, April 23, 2007)

• URGENT: Contact Your State Legislators This Week!
• Budget Update: Co-Chairs Announce Procedures for Committee Action on State Budget
• Budget Update: List Released of “Non-Fiscal Policy Items” to be Removed from Budget
• PUBLIC HEARING \ MEETING NOTICES
• STATE AGENCY MEMOS (DHFS, OQA, DDES, etc.)
• MISCELLANEOUS LTC MEETING NOTICES
• LEGISLATIVE BILL WATCH (Bills, Resolutions & New Legislation)

URGENT: Contact Your State Legislators This Week!The Joint Finance Committee will begin voting this week on the proposed 2007-09 Biennial Budget (Senate Bill 40).  The voting process will continue for the next four weeks.  This budget process will determine whether home and community-based long-term care providers will receive a rate increase for the next two years in CIP, COP and Community Aids.  Therefore, all Wisconsin long-term care providers and their staff are requested to contact their respective state representative and state senator.  If you have not contacted your legislators yet – do it now.  If you have contacted your state legislators once already – do it again!  We need your help in obtaining meaningful rate increases for home and community-based service providers – contacting your legislators will make a difference.  Message:To find out who your state legislators are, click on: http://waml.legis.state.wi.us/

• Request: 5% increases for CIP, COP & Community Aids.

Budget Update: Co-Chairs Announce Procedures for Committee Action on State Budget

The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee, Rep. Kitty Rhoades (R-Hudson) and Sen. Russell Decker (D-Schofield), announced last Friday the "Budget Procedures" under which the Joint Finance Committee shall vote on the budget.  The Committee will begin voting on the Budget this week and the Committee will use, as its beginning point, a combination of the Governor’s recommendations (SB-40) and the 2006-07 adjusted base.  The significance of this is that when working off of the Governor’s Budget Bill (SB-40), it will take 9 votes of the 16 voting members of the Committee to delete or modify the Governor’s position.  When using the “2006-07 adjusted base”, it will require 9 votes to include the Governor’s recommendation or modify the 2006-07 adjusted base.  There are 16 members of the Joint Finance Committee and since the two houses divided in party representation, there are 8 Republicans and 8 Democrats on the Committee.  Provisions impacting the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) – Long-Term Care will be voted on using the Governor’s Recommendations (SB-40).

In addition, the co-chairs announced that programs funded with new revenue sources treated separately from the agency they are funded under, including the health care quality fund (cigarette tax, tobacco products tax, hospital assessment, and injured patients compensation fund).  Rather than consider these items under each affected agency, executive sessions (votes) will be scheduled for each of these four funding sources.  At those meetings, all items related to the use of those funding sources will be considered.

Budget Update: List Released of “Non-Fiscal Policy Items” to be Removed from Budget

The co-chairs also released on Friday the list of 48 items that are considered “non-fiscal policy items” that will be removed from the budget and should instead be drafted as separate bills.  For each item, the page and item number from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau Summary document of the budget is shown. These provisions could be included in the budget later in the process during the Senate or Assembly floor action, or more likely introduced as separate legislation.

Policy Items Removed from the Budget Impacting Long-Term Care:

• BOALTC: CBRF Requirement to Post Contact Information on the Ombudsman Program (Page 63, #9)
• Medicaid: Statewide Licensed Nursing Home Bed Cap and Bed Transfers (Page 290, #7)
• Medicaid: Repeal Nursing Home Bed Bank (Page 291, #8)
• Medicaid: Nursing Home and CBRFs -- Contesting Actions and Receiverships (Page 291, #10)
• Medicaid: Community Relocation Initiative -- Authority to Provide Services to Additional Clients (Page 292, #13)

Disability and Elder Services

• Disability and Elder Services: Audit Limit for State and County-Purchased Human and Correctional Services (Page 333, #13)
• Proposed County Budget for Community Aids Expenditures (Page 334, #14)

PUBLIC HEARING \ MEETING NOTICES

Assembly Committee on Public Health

Tuesday, April 24, 2007    9:30 AM     328 Northwest, State Capitol

An Executive Session will be held on the following:

• AB-90: A loan program for medical students who agree to practice medicine in health professional shortage areas, requiring the exercise of rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.

STATE AGENCY MEMOS (DHFS, OQA, DDES, etc.)

DDES Memo 2007-06 (April 20, 2007)

Realignment of Program Mission for Mental Health Institutes and Centers for Developmentally Disabled: This numbered memo is a follow-up to the DDES Information Memo 2007-01 issued on February 7, 2007. Due to concerns raised by counties about the fiscal impact of this proposal, DDES and WCHSA convened a small workgroup of county directors to review the fiscal implications on the counties. This numbered memo restates the programmatic issues from the DDES memo 2007-01 and clarifies the fiscal implications.

OQA Memo 07-005 (March 30, 2007)

This memo contains important information on the following topics:

•    Caregiver Background Checks;

•        Background Information Disclosure (BID) Requirements;

•    Reporting Changes & Individual Sanctions; and

•    Caregiver Program Resources.

MISCELLANEOUS LTC MEETING NOTICES

Wisconsin Council on LTC Reform

Friday, May 11, 2007   9:30 AM                Coalition of WI Aging Groups (CWAG)

                                                        2850 Dairy Drive - Madison

• Agenda 

Wisconsin Council on LTC Reform – Committee on State and Local Stakeholder Participation

Monday, May 21, 2007    10:00 AM                     Coalition of WI Aging Groups (CWAG)

                                                        2850 Dairy Drive - Madison 

• Agenda

DHFS Focus 2007 Conference: Coming Together: Mapping the Journey to Excellence

August 7-8, 2007   All Day Event   Stevens Point, Wisconsin

• More Information and Agenda

LEGISLATIVE BILL WATCH (Bills, Resolutions & New Legislation)

Senate Bills:

• SB 32: (Nursing Home Diversions) Diversions under a community integration program of Medical Assistance-eligible persons from imminent entry into nursing homes. (S-Public Health, Senior Issues, Long Term Care and Privacy Committee)

• SB 40: (State Budget) Wisconsin 2007-09 Biennial State Budget: finances and appropriations. (Joint Finance Committee)

• SB 60: (Tort Reform) Evidence of lay and expert witnesses (S-Judiciary and Corrections).

• SB 71: (Pharmacy) Prohibit certain substitutions by pharmacists dispensing epilepsy drugs (S-Health and Human Services).

• SB 76: (Prescription Drugs) Eligibility for and deductible amounts under the prescription drug assistance program for the elderly, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority (S-Public Health, Senior Issues, Long Term Care and Privacy).

• SB 85: (Tort Reform) Damages for frivolous claims (S-Judiciary and Corrections).

• SB 114 (MA Estate Recovery and LTC Insurance) Long-Term Care Partnership Program (S-Public Health, Senior Issues, Long Term Care and Privacy)

• SB 144: Changes relating to assets and divestment for Medical Assistance eligibility. (S-Health and Human Services)

• SB 153: (Protective Placements) Protective placements and protective services; involuntary administration of psychotropic medication; guardianships, conservatorships, and wards; and services for adults at risk and elder adults at risk. (S-Judiciary and Corrections)

Assembly Bills:

• AB 94: (Publicly Financed Healthcare System) Establishing a publicly financed health care system for residents of this state, creating the Department of Health Planning and Finance, Health Policy Board, and regional consumer health councils, granting rule-making authority, and making appropriations (A-Health and Healthcare Reform).

• AB 121: (Tort Reform) Evidence of lay and expert witnesses (A-Corrections and Courts).

• AB 137: (Prescription Drugs) Eligibility for and deductible amounts under the prescription drug assistance program for the elderly, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority (A-Health and Healthcare Reform).

• AB 150: (Pharmacy) Prohibit certain substitutions by pharmacists dispensing epilepsy drugs (A-Health and Healthcare Reform).

• AB 213: (MA Estate Recovery and LTC Insurance) Long-Term Care Partnership Program (A-Aging and Long Term Care).

• AB 224: (Liability) Immunity from liability for a health care provider, health care facility, or employee of a health care provider or health care facility that, in good faith, reports a violation of the law or of a clinical or ethical standard by another health care provider, health care facility, or employee of a health care provider or health care facility.

LRB Co-sponsorship Memos: (Legislative Drafts Not Yet Introduced as a Bill)

• LRB 1435 and LRB 2164: (Minimum Wage) Raise Wisconsin’s minimum wage from $6.50 per hour to $7.25 per hour effective September 1, 2007.  In addition, the minimum wage for separate categories of employees such as tipped employees and camp counselors would be increased by the same percentage of 11.5%.  The minimum wage would be indexed to inflation annually beginning on September 1, 2008.

• LRB 1911: (Disease Management) Requiring a disease management program and health risk assessments.

• LRB 1807: (MA Divestment) Changes to assets and divestment for Medicaid eligibility.