The rulemaking procedures under Ch.
227 of the Wisconsin Statutes are being implemented for the purpose of effectuating the Division's annual review of the Rules of the Division of Securities. The Division's annual rule revision process for 2002 is conducted for the following purposes: (1) making necessary repeals of administrative rules that had been adopted under, and were applicable to, the former “individual accredited investor" securities registration exemption in 551.23 (8) (g), Stats., which was repealed and re-created effective October 1, 2002; and (2) amending several of the existing Administrative Procedure-contested case rules in Ch.
DFI-Sec 8, Rules of the Division of Securities, dealing with effectuating service and providing notice of administrative orders on named parties, as well as appearances at administrative proceedings by representatives of named parties.
A summary of the rule revisions follows:
1. Making necessary repeals of administrative rules [in DFI-Sec 2.02 (4) (a) and (b)] that had been adopted under, and were applicable to, the former “individual accredited investor"securities registration exemption in s. 551.23 (8) (g), Stats., which was repealed and re-created in
2001 Wisconsin Act 44 (that became effective October 1, 2002) to now conform totally to the federal definition of “accredited investor" under Rule 501(a) of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933
2. Existing rules in s.
DFI-Sec 8.03 relating to appearances at administrative proceedings by representatives of named parties need to be amended to reflect a recent Wisconsin court determination that precludes persons not licensed as attorneys in Wisconsin from representing named parties in contested case administrative proceedings before Wisconsin state agencies.
3. Existing rules in s.
DFI-Sec 8.07 relating to effectuating service of summarily-issued Division administrative orders on named parties needs to be amended to provide that if a named party is a corporation, service via certified mail can be accomplished either by sending to the corporation directly at its last known address, or by sending to the corporation's registered agent at its last known address, or by doing both.
4. Existing rules in s.
DFI-Sec 8.06 relating to effecting service by the Division of administrative orders on named parties needs to be amended to provide that if the named party is represented by legal counsel, service can be accomplished by serving legal counsel representing the named party.
Each Section that adopts, amends or repeals a rule is followed by a separate Analysis which discusses the nature of the revision as well as the reason for it.
Copy of Proposed Rule
A copy of the entirety of the proposed rule revisions to be considered may be obtained upon request to the Division of Securities, Department of Financial Institutions, 345 West Washington Avenue, 4th Floor, P.O. Box 1768, Madison, Wisconsin 53701.
Fiscal Estimate
A summary of the fiscal effects of the proposed rule revisions is as follows: (1) No one-time revenue fluctuations; (2) No annual fiscal effects; (3) No long-range fiscal implications; (4) No fiscal effect on local units of government.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
1. Types of small businesses that could be affected by certain of the rule revisions are:
None of the rule proposals have particularized applicability to small businesses.
2. Reporting, bookkeeping and other procedures required for compliance with the rules.
No reporting, bookkeeping, or other procedures were contained in this rulemaking package.
Contact Person
A copy of the full text of the proposed rule revisions and fiscal estimate may be obtained from:
Randall E. Schumann (608) 266-3414
Legal Counsel for the Division of Securities
Department of Financial Institutions
345 West Washington Avenue, 4th Floor
P. O. Box 1768
Madison, WI 53701
Additionally, the full text of the proposed rule revisions is available on-line at the DFI Website:
Notice of Hearing
Health and Family Services
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, pursuant to s.
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider proposed permanent rules to repeal, renumber, renumber and amend, amend, repeal and recreate and create provisions, relating to a variety of Wis. Adm. Code chapters administered by the Department.
Hearing Information
The public hearing will be held:
Date & Time Location
July 21, 2003 State Office Building
Monday 1 W. Wilson St.
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Madison, WI
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Parking for people with disabilities is available on site.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
This proposed rulemaking order contains a variety of minor revisions to the Department's administrative rules, which were previously published in the Wisconsin Administrative
Register, No. 569, published on May 14, 2003. These revisions have little substantive effect on those regulated by the rules. The Department is issuing these changes in a single order to conserve limited agency resources while making necessary updates and improvements in the Department's body of administrative code.
Contact Person
To find out more about the hearing, or to comment on the proposed rule, please write or phone:
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 Wednesday, July 23, 2003, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
The Department's proposed changes will not have a fiscal effect.
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
(Health, Chs.
HFS 110—)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, pursuant to s.
149.143 (2) and
(3), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the amendment of ss.
HFS 119.07 (6) (b) to
(d) and
119.15 (2) and
(3), Wis. Admin. Code, relating to operation of the Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP) and the emergency administrative rules taking effect on the same subject on July 1, 2003.
Hearing Information
The date, time and location of the public hearing is:
July 15, 2003 Conference Room 372
Tuesday State Office Building
Beginning at 1:00 p.m. 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 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 State of Wisconsin in 1981 established a Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP) for the purpose of making health insurance coverage available to medically uninsured residents of the state. HIRSP offers different types of medical care coverage plans for residents. According to state law, HIRSP policyholder premium rates must fund sixty percent of plan costs. The remaining funding for HIRSP is to be provided by insurer assessments and adjustments to provider payment rates, in co-equal twenty percent amounts.
One type of medical coverage provided by HIRSP is the Major Medical Plan. This type of coverage is called Plan 1. Eighty-nine percent of the 16,445 HIRSP policies in effect in March 2003, were of the Plan 1 type. Plan 1 has Option A ($1,000 deductible) or Option B ($2,500 deductible). The rates for Plan 1 contained in this rulemaking order increase an average of 10.6% for policyholders not receiving a premium reduction. The average rate increase for policyholders receiving a premium reduction is 18.5%. Rate increases for individual policyholders within Plan 1 range from 5.4% to 20.9%, depending on a policyholder's age, gender, household income, deductible and zone of residence within Wisconsin. Plan 1 rate increases reflect general and industry-wide premium increases and take into account the increase in costs associated with Plan 1 claims.
A second type of medical coverage provided by HIRSP is for persons eligible for Medicare. This type of coverage is called Plan 2. Plan 2 has a $500 deductible. Eleven percent of the 16,445 HIRSP policies in effect in March 2003, were of the Plan 2 type. The rate increases for Plan 2 contained in this rulemaking order increase an average of 15.6% for policyholders not receiving a premium reduction. The average rate increase for policyholders receiving a premium reduction is 23.8%. Rate increases for individual policyholders within Plan 2 range from 9.9% to 26.5%, depending on a policyholder's age, gender, household income and zone of residence within Wisconsin. Plan 2 rate increases reflect general and industry-wide cost increases and take into account the increase in costs associated with Plan 2 claims. Plan 2 premiums are also set in accordance with the authority and requirements set out in s.
149.14 (5m), Stats.
The Department amends ch.
HFS 119 in order to update HIRSP premium rates in accordance with the authority and requirements set out in s.
149.143 (2) (a), Stats. The Department is required to set premium rates by rule. HIRSP premium rates must be calculated in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles.
The Department is also increasing total HIRSP insurer assessments and reducing provider payment rates, in accordance with the authority and requirements set out in s.
149.143 (2) (a) 3. and
4., Stats. With the approval of the HIRSP Board of Governors and as required by statute, the Department reconciled total costs for the HIRSP program for calendar year 2002. The Board of Governors approved a methodology that reconciles the most recent calendar year actual HIRSP program costs, policyholder premiums, insurance assessments and health care provider contributions collected with the statutorily required funding formula.
By statute, the adjustments for the calendar year are to be applied to the next plan year budget beginning July 1, 2003. The total annual contribution to the HIRSP budget provided by an assessment on insurers is $35,444,109. The total annual contribution to the HIRSP budget provided by an adjustment to the provider payment rates is $39,170,353. On April 9, 2003, the HIRSP Board of Governors approved the calendar year 2002 reconciliation process. On May 19, 2003 the Board approved the HIRSP budget for the plan year July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004.
Identical emergency rules will be published to take effect on July 1, 2003.
Contact Person
To find out more about the hearing or to request a copy of the proposed rules, write or phone:
Randy McElhose
Division of Health Care Financing
P.O. Box 309, Room B274
Madison, WI 53701-0309
(608) 267-7127 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 rules received at the above address no later than July 23, 2003 will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
These rules update HIRSP policyholder premium rates effective July 1, 2003. They also update HIRSP insurer assessments and provider payment rates for the 12-month period beginning July 1, 2003. These updates are being performed to reflect changing HIRSP costs, and in accordance with a statute-specified methodology, in order to offset upcoming program costs. Annual fiscal updates to the HIRSP rules generally take effect in July each year. The fiscal updates contained in these rules were developed by an independent actuarial firm and reviewed and approved by the HIRSP Board of Governors. By law, the Board is a diverse body composed of consumers, insurers, health care providers, small business and other affected parties.
It is estimated that the proposed changes will increase HIRSP program revenues by $59,413,694 in State Fiscal Year 2004, compared to State Fiscal Year 2003. This amount is comprised of an increase of $9,440,804 in insurer assessments, an increased adjustment (levy) of $14,420,175 to provider payment rates, and an increase of $35,552,715 in policyholder premiums. These rule changes will not, by themselves, affect the expenditures or revenues of local government. There is no local government involvement in the administration of HIRSP.
These adjustments to the policyholder premiums, provider payment rates and insurer assessments are proposed to occur July 1, 2003 as the result of a routine, annual update of HIRSP rules. A similar, budget-based update of HIRSP rules has occurred each and every state fiscal year since 1998. Policyholder premiums will be adjusted as new HIRSP policies are initiated or renewed.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The rule changes will affect HIRSP policyholders, the Department of Health and Family Services and the Department's fiscal agent. The rule changes will not affect small businesses as “small business" is defined in s.
227.114 (1) (a), Stats. Although the program statutes and rules provide for the assessment of insurers to help finance HIRSP, no assessed insurer is a small business as defined in s.
227.114 (1) (a), Stats. Moreover, s.
149.143, Stats., prescribes how the amount of an insurer's assessment to help finance HIRSP is to be determined and, similarly, how the health care provider payment rate is to be calculated.
Notice of Hearing
Insurance
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to the authority granted under s.
601.41 (3), Stats., and the procedure set forth in under s.
227.18, Stats., the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance will hold a public hearing to consider the adoption of a rule affecting s.
Ins 8.49, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to small employer uniform employee application.
Hearing Information
