Friday, May 13, 2011
One-Hundredth Regular Session
The Chief Clerk makes the following entries under the above date.
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The Chief Clerk records:
Senate Bill
12
Senate Bill
20
Senate Bill
59
Senate Bill
72
Senate Joint Resolution 11
Report correctly enrolled on 5-13-2011.
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Read and referred:
Senate Joint Resolution 31
Relating to: memorializing Congress to reintroduce and pass the Oil Industry Tax Break Repeal Act.
By
Senators
Hansen, Wirch, Holperin, Lassa, Miller, Risser, Vinehout, Jauch, C. Larson, Taylor, Carpenter, Erpenbach and S. Coggs; cosponsored by Representatives Pasch, Hebl, Shilling, Turner, Clark, Pocan, Hulsey, Milroy, Berceau and Roys.
To committee on Public Health, Human Services, and Revenue.
Read first time and referred:
Senate Bill 94
Relating to: creation of the Wisconsin Venture Capital Authority, creation of the badger jobs fund and the jobs now fund certification program, both of which are to be administered by the Wisconsin Venture Capital Authority, making an appropriation, and providing a penalty.
By
Senators
Hopper, Darling, Lazich, Olsen, Leibham, Schultz and Wanggaard; cosponsored by Representatives Tauchen, Klenke, Kuglitsch, Fields, Williams, Kestell, Nygren, Spanbauer, A. Ott, Van Roy, LeMahieu, Petrowski, Endsley and Bies.
To committee on Economic Development and Veterans and Military Affairs.
Senate Bill 95
Relating to: granting high school credit for extracurricular sports; services provided by a special education program; transportation aid paid to school districts; the use of moneys received by a school district from the common school fund; using the results of standardized examinations to evaluate, discharge, suspend, or discipline a teacher or for the nonrenewal of a teacher's contract; the number of teaching days scheduled in the Milwaukee Public Schools; permitting a school district to limit the grades in which to reduce class size under the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education Program; permitting a school board to deny enrollment to a pupil who has been expelled from an out-of-state school or from an independent charter school in this state and permitting an independent charter school to expel a pupil; use of law enforcement records to take disciplinary action against a pupil under a school district's athletic code; and changing the date by which a school district must certify the amount of its property tax levy.
By
Senators
Olsen and Darling; cosponsored by Representatives Kestell, Strachota, Steineke, Farrow, Spanbauer, Marklein, Brooks, Petrowski and Bernier.
To committee on Education.
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Pursuant to Senate Rule 17 (5), Representative Steineke added as a cosponsor of
Senate Bill
93
.
Pursuant to Senate Rule 17 (5), Senator Wanggaard added as a coauthor of
Senate Bill
75
.
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State of Wisconsin
Office of Senator Mark Miller
May 2, 2011
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Section
15.205(4), I am reappointing Senator Julie Lassa to the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
mark miller
Senator, 16th Senate District
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WHA Information Center
May 5, 2011
The Honorable, The Senate:
Please find enclosed a hard copy of the Guide to Wisconsin Hospitals, FY 2009 produced by WHA Information Center pursuant to s.
153.22, Wis Stats. The report was posted on our Website in March 2011. Please feel free to download and print additional copies.
S277
If you have any questions regarding the report you may contact me at 608-274-1820, 800-231-8340 or
drickelman@wha.org.
Sincerely,
debbie rickelman
Senior Director
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State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
May 9, 2011
The Honorable, The Legislature:
As required by
2009 Wisconsin Act 219, we have completed an evaluation of the BadgerCare Plus Basic Plan administered by the Department of Health Services (DHS). The Basic Plan was established to provide temporary, unsubsidized health insurance for childless adults on a waiting list for the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan, a Medical Assistance program that imposed enrollment caps in October 2009. A total of 5,143 individuals were enrolled in the Basic Plan at some point during the six-month period we reviewed.
Statutes require the Basic Plan's insured benefits and administrative costs to be funded by premiums, although program costs may be subsidized by federal grant funding if it is available. Through December 2010, expenditures exceeded revenues by $140,300, and the deficit would have been larger without $1.1 million in federal State Health Access Program grant funding that may not be available in the future.
We identified numerous concerns that are affecting the Basic Plan's sustainability. Most notably, monthly premiums have been insufficient to cover services and administrative costs, services have been provided to individuals who were not enrolled in the plan, and enrollees have received services that are not covered under the plan. In addition, until recently DHS did little to verify the eligibility of applicants and enrollees. We also found that DHS had charged a total of $878,800 in plan expenditures to two general purpose revenue appropriations, contrary to state law. DHS reversed these transactions when we raised concerns about them during our fieldwork.
DHS has taken recent steps to address the Basic Plan's deficit, including transferring 438 high-cost enrollees with diagnoses of cancer and cardiac conditions to the Core Plan. In addition, DHS suspended enrollment in the Basic Plan in March 2011 and increased the monthly premium from $130 to $200 beginning with June coverage. Despite these recent changes, concerns remain regarding the Basic Plan's sustainability. Therefore, DHS and the Legislature will need to consider how best to address the future of the plan, which is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2014.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DHS in completing this evaluation.
Sincerely,
janice mueller
State Auditor