Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to s.
980.067, Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider amending ch.
HFS 95, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to the custody and control of sexually violent persons placed at facilities under s.
980.065, Stats.
Hearing Information
The public hearing will be held:
Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 10:00 a.m.
Conference Room 851-R
State Office Building
1 West Wilson Street
MADISON, WI
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Parking for people with disabilities is available in the parking lot behind the building, in the Monona Terrace Convention Center Parking Ramp or in the Doty Street Parking Ramp. People with disabilities may enter the building directly from the parking lot at the west end of the building or from Wilson Street through the side entrance at the east end of the building.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
The Department of Health and Family Services proposes to amend the title and several provisions in ch.
HFS 95, “Use of Force: Ch.
980, Stats., Patients," and create a new section of in the chapter, entitled “Escorted Temporary Patient Leave." The proposed amendments to ch.
HFS 95 are based on the Department's experience to date administering the chapter (the chapter became effective on February 1, 2002.) The proposed creation of a section of the chapter is in response to the creation of a new section 980.067 of the Wisconsin statutes through
2001 Wis. Act 16 (the biennial budget bill.) Section
980.065 of the statutes requires the Department to place persons determined to be sexually violent at selected facilities administered by the Department. Section
980.067 authorizes the superintendent of a facility at which a sexually violent person resides to allow that person to leave the grounds of the facility under escort. Section
980.067 also directs the Department to promulgate rules that express the policies and procedures for its administration of this process.
The new section of rules being proposed by the Department, s.
HFS 95.10, addresses circumstances under which a person committed to either the Wisconsin Resource Center or the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center could be allowed to temporarily leave the facility for selected reasons. The Department has proposed that these reasons be limited to the following:
- To privately visit a dying or deceased relative;
- To receive medical services that are not provided at the facility;
- To engage in pre-placement activities when the patient has a proposed or approved supervised release plan under s.
980.08 (5), Stats.; or
- For other purposes consistent with the therapeutic interests of the patient and the security interests of the facility and the community.
The proposed rules also identify considerations a facility director must take into account in his or her decision to allow a patient detained or committed under chapter 980 of the statutes to leave the facility.
Contact Person
James Yeadon
Division of Care and Treatment Facilities
P.O. Box 7851, Room 850
Madison, WI 53707-7851
608-266-5525 or, if you are hearing impaired,
608-266-1511 (TTY)
To comment on or discuss the content of the proposed rule, please e-mail or phone:
Steve Watters, Director
Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center
1111 North Rd.
P.O. Box 700
Mauston, WI 53948
608-847-1720 or,
if you are hearing impaired,
608-266-1511 (TTY)
If you are hearing or visually impaired, do not speak English, or have other personal circumstances which might make communication at the hearing difficult and if you, therefore, require an interpreter, or a non-English, large print or taped version of the hearing document, contact the person at the address or phone number above. A person requesting a non-English or sign language interpreter should make that request at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.
Written comments on the proposed rule received at the above address no later than November 11, 2002, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
Any increased costs associated with the implementation of these rules were accounted for in
2001 Act 16, which created section
980.067, Stats.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The rule changes will not affect small businesses as “small business" is defined in s.
227.114 (1) (a), Stats.
Notice of Hearing
Health and Family Services
(Medical Assistance, Chs.
HFS 100-)
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to s.
49.688, Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the creation of ch.
HFS 109, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to operation of the SeniorCare prescription drug assistance program. Through its emergency rulemaking authority under s.
224.24, Stats., the Department issued ch.
HFS 109 to become effective on September 1, 2002.
Hearing Information
The public hearing will be held:
Thursday, October 10, 2002 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon
Room 751
State Office Building
1 West Wilson St.
MADISON, WI
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Parking that accommodates people with disabilities is available in the parking lot behind the building, in the Monona Terrace Convention Center Parking Ramp or in the Doty Street Parking Ramp. People with disabilities may enter the building directly from the parking lot at the west end of the building or from Wilson Street through the side entrance at the east end of the building.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
The high cost of prescription drugs in Wisconsin and nationwide are especially burdensome on the elderly, many of whom live on a fixed income. Through
2001 Wis. Act 16, Wisconsin has addressed the problem those increasingly high costs pose to the elderly by creating s.
49.688, Stats. Section
49.688 directs the Department to develop and administer the program of prescription drug benefits for the elderly that has come to be known as “SeniorCare." The statute also directs the Department to develop administrative rules for implementing SeniorCare, which the Department has done by creating a new chapter of administrative rules, HFS 109. The rules address a variety of issues associated with operating the program in accordance with section
49.688, Stats., including specifying:
-what prescription drugs are covered;
-who is eligible for benefits and services;
-how the Department determines household income for the program's eligibility determination;
-how the Department monitors compliance by pharmacists and pharmacies; and
-mechanisms for preventing fraud and abuse.
The Department drafted these rules to parallel the prescription drug provisions of the existing Medicaid rules in chs.
HFS 101 to
108. The Department developed the program's administrative elements in consultation with an advisory committee composed of representatives of physicians, counties, seniors and pharmacies.
Individuals with prescription drug coverage under other health plans will be eligible to enroll in SeniorCare. For those who already have a health insurance plan, SeniorCare will coordinate benefit coverage with that plan. Individuals enrolled in Medicaid will not be eligible for the new program, because Wisconsin Medicaid already provides prescription drug coverage.
Contact Person
To find out more about the hearings or to request a copy of the proposed rules, you may also write, phone, or e-mail:
Alfred Matano
Division of Health Care Financing
P.O. Box 309, Room 350
Madison, WI 53701-0309
608-267-6848 or, if you are hearing impaired, (608) 266-1511 (TTY)
If you are hearing or visually impaired, do not speak English, or have other personal circumstances which might make communication at a hearing difficult and if you, therefore, require an interpreter or a non-English, large-print or taped version of the hearing document, contact the person at the address or phone number above. A person requesting a non-English or sign language interpreter should make that request at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.
Written comments on the emergency rules received at the above address no later than October 25, 2002 will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
SeniorCare, established by
2001 Wis. Act 16, provides prescription drug assistance to Wisconsin residents over 65 years of age whose income does not exceed 240% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and to those whose income exceeds 240% of the FPL if their prescription drug expenditures bring their net income below the 240% limit (termed spenddown). Participants of SeniorCare are required to pay an annual $20 enrollment fee and copayments of $15 for each name brand drug and $5 for each generic drug. In addition, participants with higher incomes (over 160% of FPL) must first spend $500 (deductible) of their own funds annually for prescription drugs before SeniorCare will reimburse the participant's prescription drug expenditures.
On July 1, 2002, Wisconsin's application for a federal waiver to receive federal matching funds under the MA program for SeniorCare was approved for participants with income less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
The administrative rule does not have a fiscal effect per se. The fiscal effect of the SeniorCare program was taken into account when the legislation was passed. However, a number of the assumptions underlying the fiscal estimate of the SeniorCare legislation have turned out to be incorrect.
Act 16 provided $49,900,000 GPR under s.
20.435 (4) (bv), Stats., to support benefits under the SeniorCare program. Since the program first begins on September 1, 2002, funding was based on a ten-month period. In addition, when Act 16 was enacted, it was unclear whether Wisconsin would obtain a federal waiver. Consequently, funding was based on the assumption that federal funding would not be available.
Although the federal wavier will significantly reduce the need for state funds, the original cost projections substantially underestimated the benefit costs for SeniorCare. Current projections, that include the benefit of federal funding, anticipate that total SeniorCare costs in FY 03 will total $100 million all funds and $48 million GPR. The net result is that budgeted funding is projected to be adequate to fund projected costs of the program in FY 03.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The rules for the SeniorCare program apply to the Department, to families that are applicants or recipients of the health care coverage provided by SeniorCare and to county social service or human service departments that take applications and determine eligibility for SeniorCare. The rules will not directly affect small businesses as “small business" is defined in s.
227.114 (1) (a), Stats.
Notice of Hearing
Natural Resources
(Environmental Protection-General)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
292.79,
227.11 (2) and
227.24, Stats., interpreting s.
292.79, Stats., the Department of Natural Resources will hold a public hearing on Natural Resources Board Emergency Order No. RR-38-02(E) pertaining to the administration of the brownfield green space and public facilities grant program. This emergency order took effect on August 29, 2002. The brownfield green space and public facilities grant program provides grants to eligible local governmental units to fund the costs of environmental remediation activities at eligible sites or facilities that will have a long-term public benefit, including the preservation of green space, the development of recreational areas or use of a property by a local government. Eligible activities include actions to remedy environmental contamination at brownfields. Eligible local governments include cities, villages, towns, counties, redevelopment authorities, community development authorities and housing authorities.
The legislature appropriated $1 million for these grants during the 2001-2003 biennium. Local governments, or an appropriate private non-profit organization in partnership with a local government, are required to contribute matching funds as cash or in-kind, or both, equal to 20%, 35% or 50%, depending upon the amount of the grant. This rule limits the amount of funds that may be awarded for eligible activities. The rule specifies that at least 20% of the funds be allocated to grants of $50,000 or less.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that the hearing will be held on:
Friday, October 11, 2002 at 9:00 a.m.
Room 611A, GEF #2
101 South Webster Street, Madison
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodations, including the provision of informational material in an alternative format, will be provided for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. Please call Michael Prager at (608) 261-4927 with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.
