Friday Update: July 9, 2004   


Please Note: There will be No Friday Updates for Two Weeks Update Will Resume on July 30th.  

Wisconsin Governor Doyle Announces 61 Appointments to Boards and Councils
Governor Doyle last week announced 61 appointments to nearly 30 state councils and boards.  Of the 30 boards and councils, below are listed those that could impact long-term care providers.
-  Board of Health Care Information: Gregory Britton of Beloit
-  Multifamily Dwelling Code Council: Emory Budzinski of Mosinee
-  Rural Health Development Council: Linda McFarlin of Friendship
-  Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority: Tim Size of Sauk City
-  Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority: Cheryll Olson-Collinns of DeForest

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Malpractice Non-Economic Cap Constitutional
The Wisconsin Supreme Court last week upheld the constitutionality of the non-economic damage limit as the limit on total non-economic damages recoverable from health care providers in a medical malpractice wrongful death case.  The decision reverses the circuit court.   Under current law, the non-economic cap combines the damages available for medical malpractice and wrongful death. Although this decision and the non-economic damages limit does not impact the vast majority of Wisconsin long-term care providers.  These protections are provided mainly for hospitals, physicians and other primary and acute care providers.
Copy of the Case: <http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinions/00/pdf/00-0072.pdf>
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: <http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul04/241117.asp>


Important Dates to Remember

July 13, 2004 DHFS Assisted Living Forum

Residential Services Association (RSA)
July 14, 2004  9:00 AM  RSA Board Meeting (Appleton)

Community Alliance of Providers of Wisconsin (CAPOW)
July 15, 2004 10:00 AM CAPOW Legislative Committee Meeting (Milwaukee)
July 28, 2004 12:00 PM CAPOW Board Meeting (Wisconsin Dells – Wintergreen Resort)

Wisconsin Council on Long-Term Care
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
July 16, 2004
August 20, 2004
September 17, 2004
October 15, 2004
November 19, 2004
December TBA, 2004

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

Pioneer Press (July 9, 2004)
Nursing home faces fund cutoff
Inspection would determine whether center loses Medicare money or closes entirely
Associated Press. Concordia Care Center, the nursing home that allegedly failed to protect residents from sex offenders living there, has until midnight today to assure regulators that patients are safe or it will lose funding.  The center will lose all federal Medicaid and Medicare funding on Saturday unless it can assure that residents' health and safety no longer are in "immediate jeopardy," state and federal officials said Wednesday. If the center can't do this, it will be forced to move its 70 residents.
<http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/9111351.htm>

Wisconsin Daily Rapids (July 9, 2004)
800 answer senior housing survey
As Rome's business center takes shape, plans for a senior housing section are under way. More than 800 property owners responded to a survey sent out in April regarding senior housing, said Rick Antin, chairman of the Alpine Village committee and the senior housing sub-committee.
<http://www.wisinfo.com/dailytribune/wrdtlocal/295228751639228.shtml>

Capital Times (July 8, 2004)
Human service cuts spotlighted: Providers decry long waits for help
The most disadvantaged citizens in Dane County could be put into a "dangerous" situation if budgetary support isn't enough to sustain the huge array of human services offered, the leader of a consortium of service providers said Wednesday.
<http://www.madison.com/tct/news/index.php?ntid=6358&ntpid=1>

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (July 6, 2004)
Health costs press small businesses more canceling worker coverage
Kathy Rasmussen and her husband, Philip, provided free health insurance to their full-time workers when they bought the Lakewoods Resort near Cable 33 years ago. As costs rose, they asked staff members to pay half.  Now, the Rasmussens are wrestling with whether they can continue providing insurance at all, as premiums rose steadily in recent years and then jumped suddenly from about $1,200 to about $2,000 for each employee.
<http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jul04/241642.asp>

Wisconsin State Journal (July 5, 2004)
Nursing, teaching among the safest bets
Mike Zimmerman has left college to start a Web design business with some friends in Philadelphia. He's concerned, though, that the very technology he intends to make a living from also means someone else, far away, can do the same job.  "As far as this stuff is concerned, it can be done from anywhere," he said. "You really can't stop it. People are going to go where the cheapest prices are and the best quality of work."
<http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/biz/77651.php>

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (July 4, 2004)
Court upholds damage limits for malpractice
Case challenged state law that put caps on judgments
Caps on "non-economic" damage awards in wrongful death malpractice cases are constitutional, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday, effectively reducing by 90% a $3 million jury award to a couple whose 5-year-old daughter died after a doctor misdiagnosed her diabetes.
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul04/241117.asp>