Contact Person
Insurance
This statement of scope was approved by the governor on April 16, 2013.
Rule No.
Relating to
Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund Annual Fund and Mediation Panel Fees, and ISO code amendments for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013.
Rule Type
Permanent Rule and Emergency Rule.
1. Description of the Objective of the Rule
The office of the commissioner of insurance's objective is to establish the annual fees that participating health care providers must pay to fund the injured patients and families compensation fund (“fund") as required by s.
655.57 (3), Wis. Stat., and set the mediation panel fees for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013, as required by s.
655.61, Wis. Stat. The proposed rule will also amend the Insurance Services Office (“ISO") codes for the classification of health care provider specialties in accordance with s.
655.27 (3) (c), Wis. Stat.
2. Description of Existing Policies Relevant to the Rule and of New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule and an Analysis of Policy Alternatives; the History, Background and Justification for the Proposed Rule
The policies as set forth in the statutes require the office of the commissioner of insurance to promulgate a rule to establish the amount of fees to be paid into the fund annually as approved by the board of governors of the fund (“board"). The fees included in the proposed rule will address both the annual assessments for the coverage provided to the participating health care providers, and the mediation fund fees which are collected by the fund and paid to the director of state courts for the operations of the medical mediation panels. In addition, the classification code modifications are the numerical designation for a health care provider's specialty and are used to classify the provider for assessment purposes consistent with s.
655.27 (3) (c), Wis. Stat.
3. Statutory Authority for the Rule (Including the Statutory Citation and Language)
The fund was established by and is operated as provided in ch.
655, Wis. Stat. The commissioner of insurance, with approval by the board, is required to annually set the fees for the fund and the medical mediation panel by administrative rule. Section
655.004, Wis. Stat., states that the director of state courts and the commissioner may promulgate such rules under ch.
227, Wis. Stat., as are necessary to enable them to perform their responsibilities under this chapter. Pursuant to s.
655.27 (3) (b), Wis. Stat., the commissioner, after approval by the board, shall by rule set the mediation panel fees, and s.
655.61, Wis. Stat., requires that the board, by rule to set fees that are charged to health care providers that are sufficient to provide the necessary revenue to fund the medical mediation panels. Pursuant to s.
655.27 (3) (a), Wis. Stat., the ISO codes set the classifications for the providers that aid in accurately classifying past and prospective loss and expense experience in different types of practice that establishes the classifications for fund fee assessment. Finally, s.
601.41 (3), Wis. Stat., provides that the Commissioner shall have rule-making authority under s.
227.11 (2), Wis. Stat.
4. Estimate of the Amount of Time that State Employees Will Spend to Develop the Rule and of Other Resources Necessary to Develop the Rule
120 hours of time including the time of state employees and members of the board.
5. Description of all Entities that this Rule may have an Economic Impact on
All health care providers that are participants in the fund, as set forth in s.
655.002 (1), Wis. Stat., are required to pay annual assessments for payment of claims that arise in each given year consistent with the provisions of ch.
655, Wis. Stat. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013 the board approved a 5% decrease in fees at the December 19, 2012 board meeting. At the March 20, 2013 board meeting the board approved a decrease in mediation panel fees to zero for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013. The reduction was based upon the request of the director of state courts as it will have a surplus and does not request additional funding for the fiscal year. In light of the fact that the fund fee and mediation panel fees are decreased, the economic impact is expected to be minimal. The ISO code amendments add clarity and correct errors that will be used to accurately assess the fund participating providers by their practice.
6. Summary and Preliminary Comparison of any Existing or Proposed Federal Regulation that is Intended to Address the Activities to be Regulated by the Rule
There is no existing or proposed federal regulation addressing any medical malpractice fund like the Wisconsin fund.
7. Statement of Scope for Permanent and Emergency Rule
The fund issues invoices for the following fiscal year in June of each year. In order for the invoices to correctly reflect the decreased assessment that was approved by the board, a rule must be promulgated and take effect prior to June 15, 2013. Due to the length of time that may be required to promulgate the rule, the scope is being submitted for both the permanent rule and an emergency rule to ensure that procedures are in place to promulgate the rule on an emergency basis to ensure that the invoices can be issued reflecting the decreased assessments approved by the board while the permanent rule can proceed without negative impact on the fund.
Contact Person:
Julie E. Walsh, Attorney, 608-264-8101.
Natural Resources
Environmental Protection—General, Chs.
100—
(DNR # CF-13-13)
This statement of scope was approved by the governor on April 3, 2013.
Rule No.
Revises chapter NR 162.
Relating to
Clean Water Fund Program.
Rule Type
Permanent.
1. Finding/Nature of Emergency (Emergency Rule Only)
Not applicable.
2. Detailed Description of the Objective of the Proposed Rule
Chapter
NR 162 is the administrative rule for the Clean Water Fund Program (CWFP), which provides loans to municipalities to finance wastewater infrastructure projects and urban runoff and storm water best management practices (BMPs). There are four objectives for revising ch.
NR 162.
Objective 1: To update areas of ch.
NR 162 that are either no longer in line with federal regulations or state statutes or need efficiency, accuracy, or clarity changes. At a minimum, the following topic areas need updating:
• Loan application.
• Cost eligibility.
• Financial assistance requirements.
• Requirements for a user charge system.
• Procurement including solicitation of disadvantaged businesses.
• Reimbursement and refinancing.
•
Loan interest rates including median household income information.
•
Financial assistance disbursements.
•
Amendments to a financial assistance agreement.
• Eligibility for hardship financial assistance.
• Procedure for determining type and amount of hardship financial assistance.
• Operation, maintenance, and replacement cost estimates.
Objective 2: To separate the current Subchapter II into two or more subchapters. Topic areas to be covered in these separate subchapters are:
• Municipal wastewater projects.
• Projects for stormwater runoff treatment works and structural urban best management practices (BMPs) in permitted municipalities.
• Urban runoff treatment works and structural BMPs in non-permitted municipalities.
• Feasible and effective agricultural BMPs and other nonpoint source pollution prevention or treatment practices that are approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Objective 3: To thoroughly review the “interest rate subsidies for small loans" portion of ch.
NR 162 and the subprogram itself for effectiveness and to determine its future. In the small loan program, loans awarded to municipalities by the State Trust Fund (the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands) have part of their interest rates subsidized under ch.
NR 162 for eligible projects. In the past few years, we have seen a reduction in the use of this program.
Objective 4: To provide the Environmental Improvement Fund (EIF) — the umbrella fund for the CWFP and the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program — with flexibility to adapt quickly to changing environmental and regulatory priorities. The main areas of ch.
NR 162 in which the CWFP needs flexibility are:
• Types of financial assistance available.
• Annual funding policy.
• Project and cost eligibility.
Additional areas of flexibility may be identified by the Advisory Committee that will be convened to assist the Bureau with revisions to ch.
NR 162.
3. Description of the Existing Policies Relevant to the Rule, New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule, and an Analysis of Policy Alternatives
A. Existing Policies Relevant to the Rule:
Many of the existing policies relevant to ch.
NR 162 (for example, the requirements for prioritizing projects receiving funds based on their ability to achieve water quality and compliance priorities for most types of point source pollution reduction and prevention) are based in federal requirements that have evolved over the years. Some existing policies are specified in the related state statutes. A significant portion of existing policies are already included in the current ch.
NR 162, which serves the needs of the Clean Water Fund Program. Because the existing ch.
NR 162 is very prescriptive and has not been revised since 2004, rule revisions are necessary to accommodate situations staff have encountered.
B. New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule:
While the existing rule is fairly apt at addressing the point source projects, the rule does not allow the DNR flexibility to fund more innovative options for municipalities to meet water quality standards or permit limits. By revising the CWFP rules to allow financing of non-traditional solutions to water pollution prevention and treatment, DNR will be able to help municipalities more effectively achieve compliance with water quality standards. Staff envision creating subchapters for nonpoint source projects, wastewater projects, and stormwater projects.
The rule-revision process will also assess whether some of Wisconsin's CWFP policy changes are more effectively modified if they are included in the annual
Intended Use Plan (IUP). The IUP
undergoes
public review and comment prior to being submitted to the DNR Secretary and EPA for approval. Examples of policies that could be included in the IUP instead of ch.
NR 162 include project scoring system priorities, “green project" reserve determinations, and additional subsidization requirements.
C. Analysis of Policy Alternatives:
1)
Do Nothing — leave ch.
NR 162 as it is.
a. Pros: This alternative would mean no rule revisions are necessary and staff resources will not be diverted from program implementation.
b. Cons: The absence of rule revisions will mean that ch.
NR 162 is still out of compliance with Federal fund requirements. Our inability to revise the rule means we must continue issuing variances for portions of the program that are inconsistent with new federal requirements. Opportunities for streamlining processes will be lost.
2)
Incorporate policy changes into ch.
NR 162.
a. Pros: Many areas of ch.
NR 162 can be improved or streamlined with fairly minor changes. Some of these changes are the result of federal requirements. In addition, incorporating changes that are discussed with DNR partner bureaus and external partners will help streamline the program, build better efficiencies for all, ensure consistency with federal requirements, and provide assurances to EPA that our program is meeting those requirements.
b. Cons: Rule changes in general require a significant amount of staff resources, which could be used for other program implementation activities.
4. Detailed Explanation of Statutory Authority for the Rule (Including the Statutory Citation and Language)
Section
281.58 (2), Wis. Stats., contains the statutory authority for the Department of Natural Resources to promulgate rules for administration of the CWFP.
Section
281.58 (2), Wis. Stats., reads as follows:
(2) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules that are necessary for the proper execution of its responsibilities under this section.
The EIF is administered cooperatively by the Wisconsin DNR and Department of Administration (DOA). Revisions to ch.
NR 162 must also be coordinated with s.
281.59, Wis. Stats., to ensure consistency with DOA policies and procedures.
5. Estimate of Amount of Time that State Employees Will Spend Developing the Rule and of Other Resources Necessary to Develop the Rule
We estimate the following time needed by staff from the following Bureaus to revise ch.
NR 162:
Community Financial Assistance 240 hours
Watershed Management 80 hours
Legal Services 40 hours
