HFS 131, relating to hospices;
HFS 132, relating to nursing homes;
HFS 133, relating to home health agencies; and
HFS 134, relating to serving people with developmental disabilities.
Policy analysis
Section
50.065, Stats., requires that the Department obtain specified background information on any person who has or who seeks licensure, certification, registration, a certificate of approval issued or granted to operate an entity as defined by s.
50.065 (1) (c), Stats., and on any person who is a non-client resident or a prospective non-client resident of an entity. Section
50.065, Stats., also requires that specified entities check the background of caregivers as defined by s.
50.065 (1) (ag) 1 a. and c., Stats. Chapters
HFS 12 and
13, give guidance to entities on contracting for background checks and on determining whether offenses are substantially related to client care, sanctions for violating s.
50.065, Stats., rehabilitation review, reporting and investigation of allegations of caregiver misconduct, and the caregiver misconduct registry.
Many of the above listed administrative rule chapters currently include provisions on background checks or caregiver misconduct investigation and reporting that are either outdated or contain language that is incompatible with s.
50.065 Stats., or chs.
HFS 12 and
13. Consequently, the Department proposes to ensure that the above listed administrative rule chapters at a minimum appropriately include or reference the requirements of s.
50.065, Stats., and chs.
HFS 12 and
13.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
The Department anticipates that about 50 hours of staff time will be required to draft, review and revise, as necessary, the proposed rulemaking order.
Health and Family Services
Subject
The Department proposes to update a number of its administrative rule chapters to include the requirements of ch.
HFS 12, relating to caregiver background checks, and s.
48.685, Stats., relating to criminal history and child abuse record searches. The affected administrative rules chapters are the following:
HFS 38, relating to treatment foster care for children;
HFS 45, relating to family day care centers for children;
HFS 46, relating to group day care centers for children;
HFS 52, relating to residential care centers for children and youth;
HFS 54, relating to child-placing agencies;
HFS 55, relating to day camps for children and day care programs established by school boards;
HFS 56, relating to foster home care for children;
HFS 57, relating to group foster care for children; and
HFS 59, relating to shelter care facilities.
Policy analysis
Section
48.685, Stats., requires that the Department obtain specified background information on any person who has or who seeks licensure to operate an entity as defined by s.
48.685 (1) (b), Stats., and on any person who is a non-client resident or a prospective non-client resident of an entity. Section
48.685, Stats., also requires that specified entities check the background of caregivers as defined by s.
48.685 (1) (ag) 1., Stats. Chapter
HFS 12, gives guidance to entities on contracting for background checks and on determining whether offenses are substantially related to client care, sanctions for violating s.
48.685, Stats., and rehabilitation review.
Many of the above listed administrative rule chapters currently include provisions on background checks that are either outdated or contain language that is incompatible with s.
48.685 Stats., or ch.
HFS 12. Consequently, the Department proposes to ensure that the above listed administrative rule chapters at a minimum appropriately include or reference the requirements of s.
48.685, Stats., and ch.
HFS 12.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
The Department anticipates that about 50 hours of staff time will be required to draft, review and revise, as necessary, the proposed rulemaking order.
Health and Family Services
Subject
To amend chapters HFS 102 and 103, relating to BadgerCare, to comply with statutory changes made by
2003 Wisconsin Act 33, the most recent state biennial budget.
Policy analysis
BadgerCare is Wisconsin's program to provide health care coverage for uninsured families. The Department administers the program under ch.
HFS 103.
2003 Wisconsin Act 33 revised the following aspects of BadgerCare:
- It increased the amount of premium payments for recipients whose family income equals or exceeds 150% of the federal poverty line from 3% of family income to 5% of family income.
- It added a requirement that an applicant must have his or her employer verify the applicant's earnings, state whether the employer provides health care coverage for which the family is eligible, and state the amount the employer pays toward the cost of health care coverage.
- It established a $1 co-payment on generic drugs and a $3 co-payment on brand name drugs for BadgerCare fee-for-service recipients.
The Department is proposing to amend chs.
HFS 102 and
103 to conform to these statutory changes.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
10 hours drafting and internal review, plus 24 hours in the promulgation process, for a total of approximately 34 hours.
Health and Family Services
Subject
To amend chapter HFS 109, relating to the SeniorCare, to comply with statutory changes made by
2003 Wisconsin Act 33, the most recent state biennial budget.
Policy analysis
SeniorCare is Wisconsin's Prescription Drug Assistance Program for Wisconsin residents who are 65 years of age or older and who meet eligibility requirements. The Department administers the program under ch.
HFS 109.
2003 Wisconsin Act 33 revised the following cost sharing provisions of SeniorCare:
- It increased the annual enrollment fee from $20 to $30.
- It increased annual program deductibles for persons whose family income is more than 200% of the federal poverty level from $500 to $850.
The Department proposes to revise ch.
HFS 109 to conform to these statutory changes.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
10 hours drafting and internal review, plus 24 hours in the promulgation process, for a total of approximately 34 hours.
Health and Family Services
Subject
To amend chapters HFS 152, 153 and 154, relating to the Wisconsin Chronic Disease Program, to comply with statutory changes made by
2003 Wisconsin Act 33, the most recent state biennial budget.
Staff time required
Using a legislative appropriation, the Wisconsin Chronic Disease Program reimburses health care providers for disease-related services provided to individuals with one of the following three illnesses: chronic renal disease; hemophilia; and cystic fibrosis. Because the benefit program requirements associated with each illness vary, the Department has established three individual chapters of administrative rules to administer the WCDP benefit program: chapters HFS 152 (chronic renal disease), 153 (hemophilia) and 154 (cystic fibrosis.) In the most recent biennial budget,
2003 Wisconsin Act 33, the Wisconsin Legislature and the Governor made a number of changes to the statutes that authorize the WCDP. These statutory changes require the Department to modify the three chapters of administrative rule so that they are once again consistent with and responsive to the statutes under which the WCDP benefit program operates.
Act 33 made several changes to the benefit programs, all of which are designed to allow the Department to contain the programs' costs:
1. It expanded the requirement that program beneficiaries must apply for other benefits provided under other health care coverage programs they may be eligible for before receiving benefits under WCDP, and authorized the Department to specify in rules what those other health care coverage programs are.
2. It prohibited the Department from paying program benefits that are payable under any other health care coverage program.
3. It instituted a statutorily-required prescription drug co-payment requirement for all 3 programs. The co-payment amount is $7.50 for each generic drug and $15 for each brand name drug. These amounts are currently $5 and $10, respectively, in chs.
HFS 152,
153 and
154.
4. It established the requirement that persons whose family income is at or above 200% of the poverty line must pay a portion of their family income towards their care before the Department pays any benefits. The proportion a person must pay increases with the increase in family income.
5. It authorizes the Department to adopt managed care methods of cost containment for each of the three programs.
6. Under the kidney disease benefit program, it requires health care providers to accept the Department's payment to them as payment in full, and prohibited providers from billing patients for charges above the amount paid by the Department.
7. Finally, it directed the Department to continuously monitor the rate at which benefits are paid under each of the benefit programs to ensure that expenditures the Department is obligated to pay do not outstrip the amount of funds the legislature has appropriated for the programs.
The Department will propose changes to chapters HFS 152, 153 and 154 to reflect these statutory changes.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
10 hours drafting and internal review, plus 24 hours in the promulgation process, for a total of approximately 34 hours.
Natural Resources
Subject
Revisions to NR 16 Subchapter II - Permitting the use of natural bodies of water as fish farms.
Policy analysis
Issue A - DNR proposes to remove legally-constructed artificial wetland ponds from regulation under NR 16, to be consistent with the statutory intent, and thus allow fish farming in manmade isolated wetland ponds without an NR 16 permit. Manmade ponds built in isolated wetlands generally do not require construction approval from DNR. However, under the current rule, these ponds cannot be used for fish farming unless they are freeze-out ponds. It was not the legislature's intention to prohibit fish farming in these manmade ponds when they created section
29.733, Stats.
Issue B - DNR proposes to eliminate the public notice requirements of NR 16.74 to increase process efficiency and allow DNR to issue permit approvals or denials based on the statutory and administrative rule standards. NR 16 includes a 30-day public notice requirement; on adoption the Natural Resources Board added the requirement that DNR notify all interest groups in NR 27.07. This notice is required even if a proposal does not meet the standards, resulting in an unnecessary delay and expense. And any notice will likely generate objections that must be resolved through a contested case hearing process, involving considerable staff time and resources. Since statutory standards and the NR16 permit process strictly limit fish farming in natural waters to those waters that have no public access and no harm to the public interest, DNR recommends that the public notice step be eliminated to make the process more efficient.
Issue C – DNR proposes to clarify how changes in the public status of waters being used for fish farms affects eligibility for NR16 permits. Under current law owners of waters are exempt from NR16 if they have a Chapter
30 or
31 permit or NR299 water quality certification that does not declare the water public. However, occasionally the public status of such waters can change after the permit is issued – for example when a stream that was formerly non-navigable becomes legally navigable due to changes in stream flow patterns. DNR recommends that exemptions for these situations be retained even if the public status of the waters changes.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
Department staff will need approximately 40 hours for this rule revision.
Natural Resources
Subject
NR 811 – Requirements for the operation and design of community water systems.
Policy analysis
The Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater will conduct a systematic review of the provisions of ch.
NR 811 and propose changes to the existing requirements that are reflective of new water treatment techniques and various federal regulatory requirements that have emerged over the past decade. The current chapter was created effective May 1, 1992 and, except for the addition of subch. XIV which created requirements for the aquifer storage recovery in 2003, it has not been substantially modified since its creation.
