May 21, 2004

LONG-TERM CARE WEEKLY UPDATE 05-21-2004

Gard Releases New TABOR Constitutional Amendment to Limit State & Local Spending
Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) released in a media briefing Thursday afternoon his new TABOR Constitutional Amendment to limit state and local spending.  The new TABOR Constitutional Amendment would limit the annual percentage increase in state and local budget spending to 80% of the change in statewide personal income.  In addition to the TABOR Constitutional Amendment, both houses are expected to pass a bill at the same time that would freeze local governments’ ability to raise property taxes.  This is the same proposal that the Legislature passed last year, and the Governor vetoed.   The legislature is not expected to vote on these proposals until after June 1.  Speaker Gard also stated that public hearings on both proposals would be held, and that the Joint Finance Committee would be the perfect vehicle for handling the public hearings.

The new TABOR Constitutional Amendment proposal does seem to include gas taxes.  However, the formula set approximately the same restrictions on state and local spending as the original AJR-55.  Therefore, many of the same  problems and unintended consequences attributed to Colorado’s TABOR Constitutional Amendment could occur with this new proposal.

Healthcare providers and advocates are again urged to contact your state senator and assembly representative and request that they oppose a TABOR Constitutional Amendment.  To find your local legislators’ address, phone and e-mail – click on: <http://www.legis.state.wi.us/waml/>


Fueled by Family Care’s Money Problems, Milwaukee County Faces $5.8 Million Deficit
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Fueled by Family Care's money problems, Milwaukee County could wind up $5.8 million in the red when the 2003 books close next month, budget officials told county supervisors Thursday.  Even the best-case estimate of a $1.2 million hole would mean the first year-end county deficit since Dave Schulz was executive in 1990.  Frustrated by the mounting deficit and late disclosure of major problems in Family Care's finances, key supervisors ordered an audit into the Department on Aging and its care program for seniors.  They also put the brakes on Aging Director Stephanie Sue Stein's plan to transfer, pending state approval, the lead management role in Family Care from county government to a private agency.  Finance Committee Chairman Richard Nyklewicz Jr. noted that under the worst-case prediction, county government in effect would start the next budget deliberations almost $10 million short compared with 2004. That's because the current budget benefited from a $4 million surplus carried over from 2002. (More…)
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may04/231038.asp>


Wisconsin Legislature Meets in Extraordinary Session to Pass Healthcare Bills
As expected both houses of the legislature passed SB 567 and SB 568 in extraordinary session this week.  SB 567 authorizes the use of State Community Aids funding to obtain $56 million in federal Medicaid dollars, which will be used to offset a portion of the $277 million Medicaid deficit; and SB 568 creates a nonrefundable individual income tax credit for certain amounts relating to health savings accounts that may be deducted from, or are exempt from, federal income taxes.


242 Acres at Northern Center in Chippewa Falls to be Sold
The Department of Health and Family Services announced earlier this week that the State of Wisconsin will begin marketing the sale of 242 acres associated with Northern Wisconsin Center in Chippewa Falls.    The acres being sold is currently part of a larger campus used by Northern Wisconsin Center for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, a Department of Health and Family Services facility, and by the Department of Corrections’ recently opened Chippewa Valley Correctional Treatment Facility.



IMPORTANT DATES

Wisconsin Council on Long-Term Care
June 11, 2004
July 9, 2004
August 13, 2004
September 10, 2004
October 8, 2004
November 12, 2004
December 10, 2004

Wisconsin Council on Long-Term Care
Residential Options Task Force
May 21, 2004
June 18, 2004
July 16, 2004
August 20, 2004
September 17, 2004
October 15, 2004
Noveber 19, 2004
December TBA, 2004

Wisconsin Legislature
May 21-23, 2004  Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention (La Crosse)
June 11-13, 2004 Democrat Party of Wisconsin State Convention (Appleton)

2004 Wisconsin Elections
September 14, 2004: Partisan Primary (state elections)
November 2, 2004: Presidential and General Elections (federal and state-wide elections)



LONG-TERM CARE IN THE NEWS

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (May 21, 2004)
[Family Care] County could face $5.8 million budget deficit
Key supervisors order audit of senior care program that's faulted for red ink
Fueled by Family Care's money problems, Milwaukee County could wind up $5.8 million in the red when the 2003 books close next month, budget officials told county supervisors Thursday.  Even the best-case estimate of a $1.2 million hole would mean the first year-end county deficit since Dave Schulz was executive in 1990.  Frustrated by the mounting deficit and late disclosure of major problems in Family Care's finances, key supervisors ordered an audit into the Department on Aging and its care program for seniors.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may04/231038.asp>


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (May 20, 2004)
2 agencies receive $60,000 in grants
Money to go to La Casa senior housing complex, Safe & Sound program
Gov. Jim Doyle announced $60,000 in economic development grants on Wednesday to help Waukesha's financially strapped Safe & Sound program and to improve a senior housing complex operated by La Casa de Esperanza.  Doyle announced the grants to about 200 supporters who gathered at La Casa to hear the governor and nearly a dozen of his cabinet members talk about economic development possibilities in the city and in Waukesha County.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/may04/230671.asp>


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (May 20, 2004)
New plan offered for senior housing
Hartland developer proposes assisted-living center for Waterford
A developer from Hartland wants to build an assisted-living center for senior citizens in Waterford that would consist of up to 60 units.  But the village's Plan Commission worries that the housing would not fit well with plans for commercial development in the area. At its meeting Wednesday night, the commission asked that the developer run the plan by a planner in Madison employed by the village.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/racine/may04/231048.asp>


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (May 20, 2004)
Family Care director faces fire over deficit
A county hearing Wednesday on troubles in the Family Care program for the elderly turned into a referendum on county Department on Aging head Stephanie Sue Stein.  Family Care benefits include adult day care, drug abuse treatment, some mental health services, home health care, medical equipment, nursing home stays, private nursing, and occupational and physical therapy.  The program also pays for emergency response systems, respite care, guardianship, speech pathology, transportation, home modifications, home-delivered meals, money management and stays in group homes and assisted-living apartments. Two county supervisors questioned why Stein should stay on, given management problems and a possible $6 million deficit in Family Care that might force unanticipated cuts in the 2005 county budget.  But seniors, activists for the elderly and some Family Care contractors defended Stein's work, saying it had dramatically improved long-term care. Wednesday marked Stein's first public appearance before supervisors on the growing deficit.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may04/230645.asp>


Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune (May 21, 2004)
New Riverview Manor approved
The Riverview Hospital Association's plan to rebuild Riverview Manor brings a new concept in rehabilitative and skilled nursing care to south Wood County.
Conceptual plans, approved this week by a strategic planning committee of the Riverview Hospital Association Board of Directors, call for construction of the new manor to begin in spring 2005. Neighbors were presented with plans during a meeting Monday. The cost for the project, including construction of a parking lot, is estimated to be $6 million to $9 million.
<http://www.wisinfo.com/dailytribune/wrdtlocal/280558627480010.shtml>


La Crosse Tribune (May 19, 2004)
Schmirler [Nursing Home Employee] announces Assembly candidacy
Westby nurse Judy Schmirler announced Tuesday she is a Republican candidate for the 96th Assembly seat being vacated by DuWayne Johnsrud, R-Eastman.  "There is a subtle, but very persistent attack being waged today in our society," she said in her announcement. "This attack sticks right at the root — at the family." Schmirler, 38, is a licensed nurse at Norseland Nursing Home in Westby and a child-care provider. She is a 1985 graduate of Mid-State Technical College in Stevens Point and has worked for almost 20 years as a licensed nurse.
<http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2004/05/19/news/z6assembly.txt>


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (May 19, 2004)
Walker takes Family Care budget from director
County worried fiscal news will get worse
Fearing more bad budget news on the Family Care program, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker on Tuesday stripped Department on Aging Director Stephanie Sue Stein of fiscal oversight of the program for seniors.  Walker said he acted after a meeting with state health officials left county fiscal administrators concerned that Family Care's deficit could rise another $1 million from previously reported figures.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may04/230383.asp>


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (May 19, 2004)
Delafield appeals group-home proposal
Sharing the concerns of neighborhood residents, city asks Lautenschlager if there's any recourse
Expressing shock that they have no control over a proposed group home, city officials have turned to state Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager for a legal opinion on why state and federal laws supersede those of local communities when it comes to allowing such facilities to operate.  Brotoloc Health Care Systems of Eau Claire has proposed operating a home for eight women with eating disorders in a Delafield neighborhood on the city's south side near I-94.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/may04/230279.asp>