This bill provides that, beginning in the 2008-09 school year, a school district
may exceed its revenue limit in any school year by the amount spent in that school
year to provide teacher mentoring activities, required by DPI by rule, for initial
educators. An initial educator is an individual who has successfully completed an
approved professional education program and is licensed by the department for the
first time in a particular level or category. A school district may exceed its revenue
limit by up to $2,160 per initial educator, less any grant money received by the school
district for that initial educator.
Current law allows an eligible school board to enter into a five-year renewable
student achievement guarantee (SAGE) contract with DPI to reduce class size to 15
pupils in grades kindergarten to three in schools with specified low-income
enrollment. Eligible schools receive $2,250 for each low-income pupil enrolled in
grades eligible for SAGE funding. The most recent set of SAGE contracts expired at
the end of the 2004-05 school year.
This bill authorizes a new installment of renewable, five-year SAGE contracts
beginning in the 2008-09 school year. DPI must give priority in awarding new SAGE
contracts to schools with the highest percentage of low-income pupils.
Currently, under the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the state
pays for certain pupils to attend private schools located in the city of Milwaukee. For
each pupil attending a private school under the MPCP, the state pays the lesser of
the private school's educational cost per pupil or the amount paid per pupil in the
previous school year under the MPCP increased by the percentage change in general
school aid over the previous school year. State aid to the Milwaukee Public Schools
(MPS) is then reduced by an amount equal to 45 percent of the amount paid by the
state for the MPCP.
This bill maintains the 45 percent reduction in state aid paid for up to 15,000
pupils attending private schools under the MPCP, but eliminates the reduction for
all pupils above 15,000.
Under current law, to continue in the MPCP, a private school must submit an
independent financial audit and evidence of sound fiscal practices to DPI by
September 1 following a year in which the private school participated in the MPCP.
This bill requires each private school participating in the MPCP to pay to DPI
an annual, nonrefundable fee in an amount to be determined by DPI. DPI must use
the fees to evaluate the financial audits and evidence of sound fiscal practices.
This bill authorizes DPI to pay up to $5,000,000 in the 2007-08 school year and
up to $10,000,000 annually thereafter to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors
to implement initiatives to improve pupil academic achievement in all grades. The
board must submit a plan to DOA for its approval that describes the initiatives
planned and the research showing that the initiatives have a positive effect on pupil
academic achievement.
This bill directs MPS to reduce by $150 the fee for each pupil who enrolls in a
driver education program offered by the school district and who meets income
eligibility standards for a free or reduced lunch plan. For each pupil who successfully
completes the driver education program, DPI must reimburse MPS $150 per eligible
pupil or a prorated amount if the number of eligible pupils exceeds the amount of aid
available. The aid is paid from the transportation fund.
This bill allows the city of Milwaukee to establish one residential charter school
of no more than 300 pupils. If the city does so, the per pupil reimbursement rate for
the state's payment to the school is twice the rate for other charter schools.
This bill changes the funding source for pupil transportation aid from the
general fund to the transportation fund.
Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, this bill increases the annual
reimbursement rate for school districts that transport pupils more than 12 miles to
school from $180 per pupil so transported to $220 per pupil so transported.
Beginning in the 2008-09 fiscal year, this bill authorizes DPI to award grants
to school boards to implement four-year-old kindergarten programs. A school board
may receive an initial grant of up to $3,000 for each pupil enrolled in a four-year-old
kindergarten program in the school district and a second grant, in the succeeding
school year, of up to $1,500 for each such pupil.
Under current law, the state reimburses school boards and private schools 10
cents for each breakfast served under the School Breakfast Program. This bill raises
the reimbursement rate to 15 cents.
Current statutes direct DPI to award precollege scholarships to minority pupils
who enroll in college classes or programs designed to improve academic skills that
are essential for success in postsecondary school education. In November 2004, DPI
reached an agreement with the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of
Education to award the scholarships to pupils who, regardless of race, are eligible for
a free or reduced-price lunch under the federal School Lunch Program. This bill
modifies the statutes to conform to this agreement.
Under current law, a school board may not grant a high school diploma to any
pupil unless the pupil has earned, in grades 9 to 12, at least 4 credits of English, 3
credits of social studies, 2 credits of mathematics, 2 credits of science, and 1.5 credits
of physical education. Beginning with pupils graduating in 2011, this bill requires
an additional credit of mathematics and of science.
This bill directs DPI to award grants to school districts to develop innovative
instructional programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics;
support pupils who are typically under-represented in these subjects; and increase
the academic achievement of pupils in these subjects.
Current law directs DPI to award a grant to any person who is certified by the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, licensed by DPI as a teacher
or employed as a teacher in a private school, and employed as a teacher in this state.
This bill provides that a teacher who is licensed by DPI as a master educator
is also eligible for the grant. The bill also doubles the amount of the grant if the
recipient is employed in a school in which at least 60 percent of the pupils are eligible
for a free or reduced-price lunch under the federal school lunch program.
This bill creates a grant program to encourage world languages instruction in
elementary grades. Under the bill, a school board may apply to DPI for a six-year
grant to pay for a portion of the compensation packages of up to two teachers and to
phase in world languages instruction in grades one to six. The bill directs DPI to
establish criteria for receiving a grant and requires teachers from participating
schools to attend professional development workshops to be offered by the
department twice each year.
This bill authorizes a school board to construct or acquire a wind electricity
generation facility and to use or sell the energy generated by the facility.
Higher education
Generally, current law allows a UW System student who has been a bona fide
Wisconsin resident for the 12 months preceding the beginning of a semester or
session for which the student registers to pay resident, as opposed to nonresident,
tuition.
This bill allows an alien who is not a legal permanent resident of the United
States to pay resident, as opposed to nonresident, tuition if: 1) he or she graduated
from a Wisconsin high school or received a high school graduation equivalency from
Wisconsin; 2) was continuously present in Wisconsin for at least one year following
the first day of attending a Wisconsin high school; and 3) enrolls in a UW System
institution and provides the institution with an affidavit stating that he or she has
filed or will file an application for permanent residency with U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services as soon as the person is eligible to do so.
The bill also provides that such persons are to be considered residents of this
state for purposes of admission to and payment of fees at a technical college.
Currently, under certain circumstances, the UW System and each technical
college must provide a full remission of fees for 128 credits or eight semesters,
whichever is longer, to an eligible veteran or to the spouse, unremarried surviving
spouse, or child of an eligible veteran. An eligible veteran is one who died on active
duty, died as the result of a service-connected disability, died in the line of duty while
on duty for training purposes, or has been awarded at least a 30 percent
service-connected disability rating.
Currently, to be eligible for the fee remission, the child of the eligible veteran
must be at least 18 but not yet 26 years old and a full-time student. This bill reduces
the minimum age to 17 and eliminates the full-time requirement. The bill also
requires the Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB) to reimburse the UW and each
technical college for fees remitted for eligible veterans and their spouses,
unremarried surviving spouses, and children.
This bill prohibits the Board of Regents of the UW System (board) from making
expenditures for supplemental salary increases for faculty whose services are in high
demand by other higher educational institutions unless the board has submitted a
plan for the expenditure to the secretary of administration, and the secretary has
approved the expenditure. The prohibition applies only if the board expends an
amount in a fiscal year that exceeds the amount expended in the prior fiscal year.
The secretary's approval is required only for the amount that exceeds the prior fiscal
year's amount.
Under current law, the board must require undergraduate applicants, with
certain exceptions, to pay a $35 application fee, and graduate, law, and medical
school applicants to pay a $45 application fee. This bill increases the undergraduate
application fee to $50 and the graduate, law, and medical school application fee to
$60.
This bill provides general purpose revenues to the board to support the
Biomedical Technology Alliance in southeastern Wisconsin.
This bill requires the board to allocate $200,000 of its general program
operations funding in the 2008-09 fiscal year to establish the UW-Milwaukee School
of Public Health, but only if the board approves the school.
This bill changes the funding source for several technical college system
appropriations from the general fund to the transportation fund.
Other educational and cultural agencies
Under current law, HEAB awards various grants to resident students for
higher education. This bill establishes a Wisconsin Covenant Scholars Program
under which, beginning in the 2011-12 academic year, HEAB must award grants
based on financial need to undergraduates enrolled at least half time at nonprofit
public or private institutions of higher education or at tribally controlled colleges in
this state. A student is eligible for a grant under the program for up to the equivalent
of ten semesters, so long as the student meets acceptable academic standards.
The bill also requires DOA to conduct certain activities to promote attendance
at nonprofit postsecondary educational institutions in this state. Those activities
include contracting with The Wisconsin Covenant Foundation, Inc., to establish and
implement a campaign to promote attendance at nonprofit postsecondary
educational institutions in this state and distributing not more than $250,000 in
each fiscal year as grants to school districts for reimbursement of teachers and
administrators for costs incurred in participating in training relating to character
education.
Under current law, HEAB awards Wisconsin higher education grants (WHEG
grants) to undergraduates enrolled at least half time at nonprofit public institutions
of higher education or tribally controlled colleges in this state. Currently, a WHEG
grant may not exceed $3,000 for an academic year. This bill sets that maximum grant
amount during any academic year at 50 percent of the resident undergraduate
academic fees charged to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the
previous academic year.
Under current law, DOA receives aid from a federal program that supports
universal access to telecommunications services, commonly referred to as the
E-Rate Program, that DOA uses to provide educational telecommunications access
to educational agencies that are eligible for a rate discount under the E-Rate
Program, specifically, public or private elementary and secondary schools and public
libraries. This bill permits DOA to use moneys received under the E-Rate Program
to make payments to telecommunications providers that provide educational
telecommunications access to those educational agencies.
This bill appropriates to the Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc., general purpose
revenues for translational research, which is the transfer of knowledge gained from
basic research to new and improved methods of preventing, diagnosing, or treating
disease, as well as the transfer of clinical insights into hypotheses that can be tested
and validated in the basic research laboratory.
Under current law, historical organizations in this state may be incorporated
as affiliates of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin if their purposes and
programs are similar to and consonant with those of the Historical Society. This bill
directs the Historical Society to distribute a grant annually to the Wisconsin Black
Historical Society and Museum to fund the operations of that society and museum.
employment
Under current law, faculty and academic staff of the UW System do not have
collective bargaining rights under the State Employment Labor Relations Act
(SELRA). This bill provides faculty and academic staff of the UW System collective
bargaining rights under state law in a manner similar to that provided other state
employees under SELRA, including the right to collectively bargain over wages,
hours, and conditions of employment.
Unfair labor practices for UW System academic staff and faculty collective
bargaining are generally the same as those under SELRA, except that the bill
specifically provides that it is not an unfair labor practice for the Board of Regents
of the UW System to implement changes in salaries or conditions of employment for
members of the faculty or academic staff at one UW institution and not for such
persons at other UW institutions if certain conditions are met. Under the bill, the
subjects of collective bargaining are the same as under SELRA, except that collective
bargaining is prohibited on the mission and goals of the Board of Regents; the
diminution of the right of tenure provided faculty; the rights granted faculty and
academic staff under current law; and academic freedom. Finally, under the bill,
collective bargaining agreements covering UW faculty and academic staff must be
approved by the Joint Committee on Employment Relations and adopted by the
legislature.
Under current law, in local government employment other than law
enforcement and fire fighting employment, if a dispute relating to the terms of a
proposed collective bargaining agreement has not been settled after a reasonable
period of negotiation and after mediation by the Wisconsin Employment Relations
Commission (WERC), either party, or the parties jointly, may petition WERC to
initiate compulsory, final, and binding arbitration with respect to any dispute
relating to wages, hours, and conditions of employment. An arbitrator or arbitration
panel must adopt the final offer of one of the parties on all disputed issues, which is
then incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement.
This process does not apply, however, to a dispute over economic issues
involving a collective bargaining unit consisting of school district professional
employees if WERC determines that the employer has submitted a qualified
economic offer (QEO). A QEO consists of a proposal to maintain the percentage
contribution by the employer to the employees' existing fringe benefit costs and the
employees' existing fringe benefits and to provide for an annual average salary
increase having a cost to the employer at least equal to 2.1 percent of the existing
total compensation and fringe benefit costs for the employees in the collective
bargaining unit plus any fringe benefit savings. Fringe benefit savings is that
amount, if any, by which 1.7 percent of the total compensation and fringe benefit
costs for all municipal employees in a collective bargaining unit for any 12-month
period covered by a proposed collective bargaining agreement exceeds the increased
cost required to maintain the percentage contribution by the municipal employer to
the municipal employees' existing fringe benefit costs and to maintain all fringe
benefits provided to the municipal employees.
This bill eliminates the QEO exception from the compulsory, final, and binding
arbitration process.
This bill requires DWD to use moneys received by DHFS from licensing, review,
and certifying activities to implement and operate youth summer jobs programs in
the city of Milwaukee and to award grants to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater
Milwaukee to fund programs that improve the social, academic, and employment
skills of youths who reside in the city of Milwaukee.
This bill changes the funding source for the Employment Transit Assistance
Program, which funds projects to improve access to jobs in areas that are not served
by an adequate mass transit system, from the general fund to the transportation
fund.
Environment
Water quality
Under the Clean Water Fund Program, the state makes loans at subsidized
interest rates for projects to control water pollution, including sewage treatment
plants. This bill changes the interest rate for projects that are necessary to prevent
a municipality from violating a pollution limit in its wastewater discharge permit
from 55 percent of the market interest rate to 70 percent of the market interest rate.
This bill sets the present value of the Clean Water Fund Program subsidies that
may be provided during the 2007-09 biennium at $99,100,000. The bill also
increases the general obligation bonding authority for the Clean Water Fund
Program by $49,500,000 and increases the revenue bonding authority for the Clean
Water Fund program by $368,145,000.
Under the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, the state makes loans at
subsidized interest rates to local governmental units for projects to construct or
modify public water systems. This bill sets the present value of the Safe Drinking
Water Loan Program subsidies that may be provided during the 2007-09 biennium
at $16,700,000. The bill also increases the general obligation bonding authority for
the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program by $6,090,000.
Current federal law authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
carry out projects to clean up contaminated sediment in the Great Lakes and
tributaries of the Great Lakes. The federal law requires a portion of the funding for
a project to be provided from a source other than the federal government. This bill
authorizes DNR to pay a portion of the costs of a project to remove contaminated
sediment from Lake Michigan or Lake Superior or a tributary of Lake Michigan or
Lake Superior if EPA provides federal funds for the project, and the bill provides
$17,000,000 in bonding authority for this purpose.
Under current law, DNR provides funding for the management of urban storm
water runoff and for flood control and riparian restoration projects. This bill
increases the general obligation bonding authority for these projects by $6,000,000.
Under current law, DNR provides funding for measures to reduce water
pollution from nonpoint (diffuse) sources. This bill increases the general obligation
bonding authority for nonpoint source measures by $12,000,000.
Under current law, under the targeted runoff management grant process, local
governmental units annually apply for funding from DNR for new nonpoint source
projects. DNR annually ranks the eligible applications based on specified criteria
and selects projects to receive funding. Local governmental units provide
cost-sharing grants to land owners to implement the projects.
This bill authorizes DNR to provide funding, outside of the targeted runoff
management grant process, for animal waste management. DNR may provide
funding to a local governmental unit for a project at an animal feeding operation that
is discharging pollution to the waters of this state if DNR determines that such
funding outside of that process is necessary to protect fish and aquatic life.
Environmental cleanup
Under the Land Recycling Loan Program, the state makes interest-free loans
to political subdivisions for projects to remedy contamination that has affected, or
threatens to affect, groundwater or surface water. This bill sets the present value
of the Land Recycling Loan Program subsidies that may be provided during the
2007-09 biennium at $3,400,000.
Under current law, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) administers a
program (known as PECFA) to reimburse owners of certain petroleum product
storage tanks for some of the costs they incur in cleaning up discharges from those
tanks. This bill authorizes Commerce to contract with consultants and contractors
to clean up a discharge from a storage tank and to pay the consultants and
contractors directly.
This bill also authorizes Commerce to contract with a person to empty, remove,
and dispose of an underground petroleum product storage tank that has not been
properly closed if Commerce is unable to identify the owner of the tank or Commerce
determines that the owner is unwilling or unable to pay.
Current law authorizes DNR to conduct or fund activities to investigate and
remedy environmental contamination in some situations. This bill increases the
authorized general obligation bonding authority to finance those activities by
$3,000,000.
Other environment
This bill creates an Office of Public Intervenor attached to DOJ. The bill
requires the attorney general to appoint an assistant attorney general to serve as the
public intervenor. The bill authorizes the public intervenor to commence or
intervene in court proceedings whenever necessary to protect the public rights in
water and other natural resources; act as an interested party in actions in which he
or she intervenes, and present evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and file briefs;
and appeal administrative rulings to the courts.
Current law imposes a recycling fee of $3 per ton on solid waste, other than
certain kinds of high-volume industrial waste, disposed of at a landfill or other waste
disposal facility. The recycling fee is deposited into the recycling fund. This bill
increases the recycling fee to $6 per ton.
Current law imposes an environmental repair fee on solid and hazardous waste
disposed of at a landfill or other waste disposal facility. The environmental repair
fee is 50 cents per ton, except that the fee is lower for mining waste and certain kinds
of high-volume industrial waste. The environmental repair fee is deposited into the
environmental fund. This bill increases the environmental repair fee to $1.60 per
ton.
This bill transfers $13,000,000 in fiscal year 2007-08 and $20,000,000 in fiscal
year 2008-09 from the recycling fund to the general fund. The bill also transfers
$4,000,000 in fiscal year 2007-08 from the petroleum inspection fund to the general
fund.
This bill changes the funding source for DNR's administration of the Motor
Vehicle Emission Inspection and Maintenance Program from the general fund to the
transportation fund.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Medical Assistance
Under current law, DHFS administers the Medical Assistance (MA) program
and the BadgerCare health care program, which provide health care benefits for
eligible individuals (generally, pregnant women, certain children, and elderly or
disabled individuals, all of whom must meet specific low-income requirements).
Families, children who do not reside with their parents, and unborn children whose
mothers are not eligible for MA or BadgerCare may be eligible for BadgerCare if their
incomes do not exceed 185 percent of the federal poverty line and they meet certain
nonfinancial criteria, such as not having access to employer-subsidized health care
coverage.
Under this bill, DHFS must request a waiver from, and submit amendments
to the state MA plan to, the secretary of the federal Department of Health and
Human Services to allow DHFS to implement an MA health care program called
BadgerCare Plus (BC+). BC+ would be financed as are other MA programs, partly
with federal funds and partly with state funds. BC+ would replace all of BadgerCare
and part of MA. Thus, individuals who satisfy eligibility criteria under both BC+ and
BadgerCare would receive benefits under BC+, and individuals who satisfy
eligibility criteria under both BC+ and MA would receive benefits under either BC+
or MA, depending on the basis for their eligibility for MA.
BC+ would provide health care benefits to recipients under two different plans,
depending on the basis for the recipient's eligibility. The first plan provides the same
benefits that are provided under regular MA. Individuals eligible for BC+ benefits
under the regular MA plan include: a pregnant woman whose family income does
not exceed 200 percent of the poverty level; a child under one year of age whose
mother, on the day on which the child was born, was eligible for and receiving
benefits under MA or BC+ under the regular MA plan; any child whose family income
does not exceed 200 percent of the poverty level; an individual whose family income
does not exceed 200 percent of the poverty level and who is the parent or caretaker
relative of a child who is, generally, living in the home of the parent or caretaker
relative; certain migrant workers and their dependents; and an individual between
19 and 21 years of age who was in foster care on his or her 18th birthday.
The second plan, called the Benchmark Plan, provides specified benefits, such
as coverage for prescription drugs; physicians' services; inpatient and outpatient
hospital services; home health services; physical, occupational, speech, and
pulmonary therapy; treatment for nervous and mental disorders and alcoholism and
other drug abuse problems; durable medical equipment; and transportation to
obtain emergency medical care. Individuals eligible for BC+ benefits under the
Benchmark Plan include: a pregnant woman whose family income exceeds 200
percent, but does not exceed 300 percent, of the poverty level; a child under one year
of age whose mother, on the day on which the child was born, was eligible for and
receiving BC+ benefits under the Benchmark Plan; any child whose family income
exceeds 200 percent, but does not exceed 300 percent, of the poverty level; and an
individual whose family income exceeds 200 percent, but does not exceed 300
percent, of the poverty level and who is the parent or caretaker relative of a child who
is, generally, living in the home of the parent or caretaker relative. In addition, any
child whose family income exceeds 300 percent of the poverty level may purchase
coverage under the Benchmark Plan at the full per member per month cost of the
coverage.
For coverage under both the regular MA plan and the Benchmark Plan, a child
is defined to include an unborn child whose mother is not eligible for MA or BC+ but
satisfies all other eligibility criteria except that she is not a U.S. citizen or qualifying
alien or is an inmate of a public institution. If the mother's family income does not
exceed 200 percent of the poverty level, the unborn child is eligible for prenatal care
under the regular MA plan; if the mother's family income exceeds 200 percent, but
does not exceed 300 percent, of the poverty level, the unborn child is eligible for
prenatal care under the Benchmark Plan.
As a condition of eligibility for BC+, an individual who is eligible for enrollment
in a group health plan must apply for enrollment in that plan if DHFS determines
that it is cost-effective. With exceptions for pregnant women, individuals in foster
care on their 18th birthday, and certain children, no individual whose family income
exceeds 150 percent of the poverty level is eligible for BC+ if the individual has health
care coverage under the state employee health plan or coverage that is provided by
an employer and for which the employer pays at least 80 percent of the premium.
Regardless of family income, however, an unborn child is not eligible for BC+ if the
unborn child or its mother has any type of health insurance coverage. If an
individual whose family income exceeds 150 percent of the poverty level or an unborn
child or its mother had access, in the 12 months before applying for BC+, to health
care coverage under the state employee health plan or coverage that is provided by
an employer and for which the employer pays at least 80 percent of the premium, the
individual or unborn child is not eligible for BC+ unless there is a good cause reason
that the individual or unborn child or its mother did not enroll in the coverage. A
pregnant woman whose family income exceeds 200 percent of the poverty level and
who has health insurance coverage must maintain that coverage as a condition of
eligibility for BC+. If an individual whose family income exceeds 150 percent of the
poverty level had coverage under the state employee health plan or
employer-provided coverage but no longer has the coverage, if an unborn child or its
mother had health insurance coverage but no longer has the coverage, or if a
pregnant woman whose family income exceeds 200 percent of the poverty level did
not maintain the coverage that she had, the individual, unborn child, or pregnant
woman is not eligible for BC+ for three calendar months following the month in
which the coverage ended unless there was a good cause reason for the termination
of the coverage.
With certain exceptions, for an individual whose family income exceeds 150
percent of the poverty level, DHFS must verify directly with the employer, if any,
whether the individual has or had insurance coverage or access. An employer must
supply the information upon request within a certain time or pay a penalty equal to
the full per member per month cost of coverage under BC+ for each month the
individual is covered under BC+ until the employer provides the information.
Penalties are limited to no more than $1,000 in any six-month period for an employer
with fewer than 250 employees, and to no more than $15,000 in any six-month period
for other employers.
Generally, the same copayment requirements that apply under MA apply to
BC+ recipients with benefits under the regular MA plan. BC+ recipients with
benefits under the Benchmark Plan are subject to the copayment and coinsurance
requirements specified in the bill for that plan. A BC+ recipient who is an adult, who
is not a pregnant woman, and whose family income is at least 150 percent of the
poverty level must pay a premium for BC+ coverage that may not exceed 5 percent
of the recipient's family income. A BC+ recipient who is a child whose family income
is at least 200 percent of the poverty level must pay a premium for BC+ coverage that
may not exceed the full per member per month cost of coverage for a child with a
family income equal to 300 percent of the poverty level. A BC+ recipient who is an
unborn child or a pregnant woman whose family income exceeds 200 percent of the
poverty level must pay a premium that may not exceed the full per member per
month cost of coverage for an adult with a family income equal to 300 percent of the
poverty level. If a recipient who is required to pay a premium does not pay it when
due, the recipient's coverage terminates and the recipient may not be eligible for BC+
again for six months.
This bill creates the health care quality fund, consisting of moneys obtained
from an increase in cigarette and other tobacco products taxes, from assessments on
hospitals, and from certain other sources. The health care quality fund is used as
another source of funding for MA and for BadgerCare.
Currently, MA provides federal and state moneys to pay for health care and
long-term care services, including care in a nursing home, for persons who are
low-income, elderly, or disabled and who meet other specific eligibility
requirements. To be eligible for MA for long-term care services, an individual must
meet certain very low income and resource requirements, and may have to reduce
his or her income and resources by paying for his or her own long-term care until the
eligibility requirements are met.
Currently, if a person transfers his or her assets for less than fair market value
for the purpose of reducing his or her income and resources to become eligible for MA
for long-term care services (divestment) on or after the person's look-back date
(generally, three years before the person applies for MA for long-term care services),
the person may be ineligible for MA for a specified time (penalty period). This bill
does all of the following with respect to divestment:
1. Changes the look-back date to five years for transfers that occur on or after
February 8, 2006.
2. Changes the beginning date for the penalty period from the date on which
assets were transferred to the later of the date on which assets were transferred or
the date on which the person applies and is eligible for MA for long-term care
services.
3. Provides that the purchase of a loan, promissory note, mortgage, or life estate
after February 8, 2006, is a divestment and specifies the requirements for when such
a purchase is not to be considered a divestment.
4. Provides that as a condition of receiving MA for long-term care services an
applicant or recipient must disclose any interest he or she or his or her spouse has
in an annuity that was purchased on or after February 8, 2006, or with respect to
which a transaction occurred on or after February 8, 2006.
5. Specifies the conditions under which the purchase of an annuity on or after
February 8, 2006, is not considered a divestment, including designating DHFS as a
remainder beneficiary under the annuity in the first position.
6. Requires DHFS to establish a process, to determine if the divestment rules
would result in undue hardship for a person and should not apply.
7. Provides, generally, that a person is ineligible for MA for long-term care
services if the equity in the person's home exceeds $750,000, unless his or her spouse
or minor or disabled child is living in the home. Under current law, a person's home,
regardless of its value, is not counted when the person's income and resources for MA
eligibility are determined.
This bill requires DHFS to request a waiver from the secretary of the federal
Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a demonstration project
under which DHFS would provide health care coverage of primary and preventive
care for adults under the age of 65 who have family incomes not exceeding 200
percent of the poverty level; who are not otherwise eligible for MA, BadgerCare, or
Medicare; and who did not have coverage under the Health Insurance Risk-Sharing
Plan within six months before applying.
