It has been a busy week in the
Legislature. Dozens of committees held public hearings,
including the Joint Committee on Finance. Here are some of the
highlights from this week’s meeting:
- Passed “Wisconsin Cares” Alzheimer’s and Dementia
legislation
Earlier this week, the Wisconsin Cares legislative package from
the Alzheimer’s Taskforce received wide bipartisan support in
the Assembly Mental Health Committee. Several of these bills
also required approval from the Joint Finance Committee. The
following bills were approved by JFC and will come before the
full Legislature later this month:
Assembly Bill 783: Provides $50,000 to Dept of Health
Services for the purchase of Virtual Dementia Tour licenses.
Assembly Bill 784: Provides an additional $50,000 to the
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at UW-Madison.
Assembly Bill 787: Increases funding for the state’s
Alzheimer’s family and caregiver support programs by $1,000,000
to support respite care services.
Assembly Bill 788: Increases funding for Dementia Care
Specialists in counties with population under 150,000.
Assembly Bill 790: Directs DHS to make grants totaling
$250,000 to counties/regions for mobile crisis teams trained to
recognize and provide treatment to those with dementia.
- Passed SB 293/AB 408 to invest in Mental Health
treatment and reforms
This legislation which I co-authored with Sen. Leah Vukmir is a
three-part initiative that seeks to better coordinate mental
health services and to improve outcomes for Wisconsin Medicaid
patients who are suffering from mental illness. The bills have
already passed both the respective Senate and Assembly Health
committees, and also required the approval of the JFC.
The first initiative would implement a behavioral health care
coordination pilot program. Current Wisconsin Medicaid enrollees
who have significant or chronic mental illness often make
repeated trips to the emergency room. This continuous cycle is a
significant cost driver for our state’s healthcare system and
ultimately is not in the best long-term interest of the patient.
Our reforms allow for the use of alternate Medicaid
reimbursement models with the goal of incentivizing providers to
manage and coordinate all aspects of care: behavioral, physical,
and social services. This synchronized and preventative care can
help to prevent future ER visits.
The project will provide $1.5 million in all funds ($600,000
state revenue) to at least two pilot programs for up to three
years. Health care providers eligible for the pilot must meet
certain criteria. This pilot is based upon a similar effort in
Illinois that resulted in savings of $8 million to taxpayers.
The second pilot program is targeted to adult Medicaid
recipients who have mild to moderate mental health needs. Under
current law, Medicaid does not reimburse providers who provide
consultation to a primary care physician when a patient is in
need of care. The purpose of the pilot is to show that proactive
consults with a psychiatrist will reduce costs and lead to
better outcomes.
The third initiative would implement an online mental health bed
tracking system. Our state’s system for tracking the
availability of psychiatric care has become antiquated.
Currently, when an individual needs inpatient psychiatric care,
clinics have no other option than to call around to individual
hospitals in an attempt to locate an open bed. An online system
can display bed availability statewide in real time, saving
valuable staff time and resources.
This legislation has wide bipartisan support with over 70
cosponsors. It will come to the full Assembly and Senate for a
vote later this month.
Assembly Bill 729
Advances-Recreational Gasoline Pumps
Assembly Bill
729 changes the law from requiring motor fuel prices to be
advertised by the gallon, to say that a person who sells less
than 15,000 gallons of motor fuel in Wisconsin per year can
advertise their prices by the half-gallon.
This bill came about after discussion with my tavern owner
constituents who sell fuel for recreational vehicles. Currently,
many of these places have older fuel pumps that only will show
prices up to $2.99. Therefore, many of the owners display the
cost of fuel per ½ gallon and explain that the displayed amount
needs to be doubled. However, the Weights & Measures and
Petroleum Inspection Division of the Department of Agriculture,
Trade, and Consumer Protection has deemed this method to be out
of compliance and is requiring the owners to make changes. In
order to come into compliance, the small-scale proprietors would
have to purchase new pumps, of which the cost outweighs any
benefit of selling fuel.
Snowmobile Trail
Conditions
Snow
conditions continue to vary widely across the state. As an avid
snowmobiler, I am very grateful for the snowfall we
received this last week! Hopefully I will get to enjoy the
trails this weekend. Here are online
resources to use in planning your next ride:
WI Department of Tourism collects
snowfall amounts and trail data from all 72 counties:
http://www.travelwisconsin.com/snowreport/snowmobile
Northern Wisconsin trail reports
and conditions:
http://www.northwoodswisconsin.com/snowmobiling.htm
Merrill and Tomahawk
to be Featured on Discover Wisconsin
Make sure to tune into Discover
Wisconsin this weekend to see some familiar territory. The
episode highlights the Wisconsin River and has segments from
Merrill, Tomahawk, Stevens Point, Adams County, and Portage.
Merrill will feature Council Grounds State Park, River Bend
Trail, and the Merrill Historical Society. Tomahawk will
feature the Wisconsin River itself with one of the hosts
waterskiing. If you miss the episode on live TV you can
also watch online at:
http://discoverwisconsin.com/
Upcoming Events in
Northern Wisconsin
