DHS to Issue RFI on Personal Care Services Assessment 

 

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) plans to issue a Request for Information (RFI) for a possible independent assessment of personal care services through the state's Medicaid program, Beth Wroblewski said during Tuesday's Wisconsin Long-Term Care Advisory Council meeting. Wroblewski, deputy administrator of the DHS Division of Long Term Care, said that there has been a 36 percent increase in the number of providers billing for personal care services within about the past five years, due to a state budget provision that expanded the entities that could offer personal care services under the state Medicaid program. This represents substantial growth in Medicaid dollars. DHS officials are concerned that in many cases the person who assesses the need for the number of hours of personal-care services is the same person who delivers those services, Wroblewski said. There have been some cases of egregious fraud, thus the call for the RFI.

 

In other business at Tuesday's Wisconsin LTC Advisory Council meeting:

• Brian Shoup, Long Term Care Division Administrator, reported that the Request For Proposals (RFP) for the Family Care expansion into Northeast Wisconsin has already been crafted and will be published around May 19. DHS expects the expansion into seven Northeast WI counties to occur by the end of the first quarter of 2015. There is no set timetable about expansion into other parts of the state, but DHS has assured the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that the state of Wisconsin will have all counties within Family Care over time. Shoup also indicated that it is possible that more than one managed care organization (MCO) could be awarded a contract within a county.
• DHS is planning to release a Request For Proposals in June 2014 for third-party oversight of the state's non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) program. The RFP will include member advocacy services and semiannual auditing of monthly complaint reports about the NEMT provider, MTM Inc.
• The Advisory Council heard a lengthy report about the implementation of the state's Dementia Care System Redesign. There are about 48 activities/projects currently underway by DHS staff in relation to the system redesign. One of those major initiatives is the development of dementia care standards and dementia-capable training courses, both by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The draft dementia care standards are expected to be released in July 2014, with finalization by DHS in September 2014. The first dementia-capable training courses - geared toward different audiences of crisis responders, health care providers, family/friends and community members - are expected to roll out beginning in October 2014 and thereafter. Some LTC provider representatives expressed concern at Tuesday's meeting that LTC providers have not recently been part of DHS's work on the dementia care system redesign. There were also concerns that any standards developed by UW-Oshkosh could be repetitive of standards other organizations already have in place - or alternatively could override them.
• See documents below to read more about the UW-Oshkosh standards and training timelines.
• Document 1
• Document 2
• Document 3
• Council members heard about many initiatives underway at DHS that focus on employment, particularly by teens and young adults, such as the Wisconsin PROMISE program. Shoup said there is a move toward integrated employment and away from facility-based employment programs.
• One committee member said state legislation is currently being drafted that would allow for long-term care investment funds in Wisconsin. Although not many details were provided at Tuesday's meeting, it was mentioned that under the proposal people could make financial plans for their own long-term care, with friends and relatives also able to invest (similar to the state's EdVest educational savings program). This legislation is expected to be introduced in the state Legislature in 2015.

 

 

WI to Participate in Health Workforce Policy Academy

 

Wisconsin is one of seven states selected to participate in a National Governor's Association Center for Best Practices Policy Academy, which will help states develop and implement statewide plans to meet future healthcare workforce needs. The Wisconsin team will include representatives from the governor's office, state agencies that include the Department of Safety and Professional Services and the Department of Workforce Development, the University of Wisconsin's School of Medicine and the Wisconsin Medical Society, among other organizations.

 

Topics covered will include developing education and training of existing professionals, streamlining licensing requirements, analyzing data on upcoming workforce needs and examining opportunities for new types of professionals.

 

Other states to participate include Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

 

Gov. Scott Walker serves on the National Governor's Association's Executive Committee.

 

 

 

Audit Reveals Strategies For Improving 

Human Services Contracting in Dane County

 

The Dane County Board of Supervisors on Thursday heard a presentation from Baker Tilly Virchow Krause about its assessment of the county Department of Human Services' (DCDHS) Purchase of Services (POS) contract process, making about two dozen recommendations for improvements to the process but without recommending a funding increase.

 

The department contracts with 268 vendors annually to provide human services to county residents, amounting to 64 percent of DCDHS $239.5 million expenditures in FY12.

 

In an audit released this spring and reviewed on Thursday, Baker Tilly made a number of recommendations for improving the POS contract process, including prioritizing budget expenditures; extending the time POS agencies have to review and negotiate contracts; recommending that for services that are not applicable to a full performance-based contracting model DCDHS should still include performance outcomes in contracts; the addition of a program analyst to create and track performance measures in the existing contracts; and many other recommendations. 

 

Click here to read the audit.

 

 

 

Assisted Living Forum is Tuesday

 

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services Division of Quality Assurance Assisted Living Forum will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 20. This meeting will be held online as a web forum.

 

The agenda for the meeting has not yet been released as of time of distribution of this newsletter.

 

Click here later to view the agenda after it is posted and to find the link to the participate in Tuesday's web forum.

 

 

 

Nursing Home Rate Method Meeting Will Be June 23  

 

Please save the date for the second public meeting on this year's proposed updates and changes to the Nursing Home Methods of Implementation. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Medicaid rate audit team will be presenting information on proposed changes to the fee-for-service rate-setting methodology.

 

What:   Nursing Home Methods Public Meeting #2

When:  Monday, June 23, 1 p.m.

Where: Department of Health Services, Room 751, 1 W. Wilson St., Madison

 

Please RSVP to Mary Jensen to attend.

 

 

 

State Rep. Pleads Not Guilty to Sexual Assault Charges

 

State Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) on Thursday pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of second-degree sexual assault. Kramer appeared in Waukesha County Circuit Court, where he is being charged in relation to a 2011 incident in which he allegedly assaulted a legislative staffer at a Republican fundraising event in Muskego. Kramer had been Assembly Majority Leader up until this spring, when he was removed from that post by fellow Republicans following the allegations. Kramer will not seek re-election to his state Assembly seat in November but has indicated that he does not plan to resign prior to November.

 

Each criminal count against Kramer carries a maximum penalty of $100,000 in fines and 40 years in prison.

 

 

 

Federal Court: Parts of Wisconsin

Campaign Finance Laws Are Unconstitutional

 

Wisconsin campaign finance laws were delivered another blow after a federal appeals court on Wednesday declared major provisions unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit, based out of Chicago, on Wednesday struck down several Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) rules regulating issue-advocacy ads. The court also found that the state ban on political spending by corporations is unconstitutional under the federal court case Citizens United.

 

"Chapter 11 of the Wisconsin Statutes has not been updated to keep pace with the evolution in Supreme Court doctrine making the boundaries on the government's authority to regulate election-related speech," the ruling states.

 

Under Wisconsin law, corporations are not allowed to directly or indirectly contribute in support or opposition of a candidate, with the exceptions of referendums and also limits of $20,000 or 20 percent of their previous year's contributions in order to fund a political action committee (PAC).

 

GAB officials indicated that they plan to review the court's ruling and confer with the state Department of Justice. This most recent ruling - which was preceded by a separate recent court ruling/state settlement that struck down the state's $10,000 annual aggregate campaign contribution limit per individual - puts pressure on state legislators to revise state campaign finance laws. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Burlington) and Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) said they will spearhead the legislative changes in their respective houses when the Legislature reconvenes in January 2015.

 

 

 

State Seeks Stay, Appeal on Voter ID Ruling

 

The state is appealing a judge's ruling striking down the state's voter ID law. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen this week filed a notice of appeal with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and requested a stay of the federal judge's April 29 decision pending appeal. A federal judge last month struck down a Wisconsin law that passed in May 2011 requiring a photo ID to vote. Republicans who supported passage of the law said the measure will deter voter fraud, but the judge from the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin said that evidence at the trial established that virtually no voter impersonation occurs in Wisconsin. The ruling found that the voter ID requirement places an unjustified burden on the right to vote and violates the federal Voting Rights Act.

 

 

 

Former Governor Lucey Dies

 

Former Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey died on Saturday at the age of 96. Lucey, a Democrat, was the state's first four-year term governor and served from 1971 to 1977. 

 

Patrick Lucey was born in La Crosse, grew up in the village of Ferryville and graduated from Campion High School in Prairie du Chien. He served as the 38th Governor of Wisconsin from 1971 to 1977 and later as the United States Ambassador to Mexico from 1977 to 1979. His best known accomplishments in office include the formation of the University of Wisconsin System. 

 

"Tonette and I extend our thoughts and prayers to the family of Governor Patrick Lucey," Gov. Scott Walker said in a statement. "It was a particular joy to be with him last summer for the 40th anniversary of Kikkoman in Fontana. Governor Lucey was a dedicated public servant who loved Wisconsin."

 

 

 

WI Unemployment Rate Down to 5.8%

 

The Wisconsin unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in April 2014, down slightly from 5.9 percent in March. According to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, this is the lowest unemployment rate in Wisconsin since 2008. 

 

 

 

Legislative Schedule

• April 1-3, 2014: Last general-business floorperiod of the 2013-14 legislative session
• August 12, 2014: Fall partisan primary election
• November 4, 2014: Fall general election
• January 5, 2015: Inauguration of new state elected officials

 

 

This email is brought to members of the Residential Services Association of Wisconsin by Forbes McIntosh at Government Policy Solutions in Madison, Wis. 

 

Editor

Ann Gryphan