The Joint Finance Committee listened to testimony from the Department of Health Services secretary Wednesday morning about the agency’s proposed budget, which committee members probed for answers about changes to important medical programs.
Committee members questioned DHS Secretary Dennis Smith about SeniorCare, family planning services and legislative oversight, all of which would be modified in Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed biennial budget in order to address a $500 million shortfall in the agency’s own budget.
“All new general purpose revenue in the state raised through income, sales and excise taxes will come to the Department of Health Services,” Smith said. “But despite the infusion of new revenue, we still face a $500 million shortfall in the biennium so we have a number of proposals in the governor’s budget to close that gap and are continuing on ways to close the gap.”
The budget would require individuals enrolled in SeniorCare to also enroll in Medicare Part D, which, depending on how many prescriptions a person may use, would cost less for some of the lower income individuals enrolled exclusively in SeniorCare, Smith said.
The requirement would, along with four other changes to the Medical Assistance program including terminating payments for family planning services to men, amount to almost $100 million in cuts to the agency.
Smith, who helped start SeniorCare while working in federal government, said he understood how popular SeniorCare was in Wisconsin, but only 11 percent of citizens over 65 years old are currently enrolled.
However, Sen. Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, took issue with the proposal and called the program DHS would require seniors to also enroll in “Medicare Part Dumb.”
“What has happened as a result of your proposal, Mr. Secretary, is that seniors across the state are petrified that they are going to lose SeniorCare, number one,” Jauch said. “Number two, they are terrified that they have to read these publishing clearing house applications from these Medicare Part D companies and try to make a choice.”
He added he did not know why Smith would want to put people through that to save a few dollars for the state of Wisconsin when it might end up benefiting insurance companies more than the people in Wisconsin.
JFC co-chair Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, also made it a point to ask Smith that he include the legislature in decisions the agency makes with regard to changes in medical assistance programs.
“It appears to me that we’re giving up some of the oversight we’re used to in this proposal,” Darling said.
She added the last time the DHS said it would make changes without legislative oversight those changes were never made. The legislature needs to have oversight for these changes that are very important to the people of Wisconsin, Darling said.
Another issue raised by Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, concerned cuts to family planning programs in Wisconsin that could have an impact on STD prevention and unintended pregnancies and the impact to agencies that provide services like prostate cancer screenings.
Funding for family planning services for men would be cut by $1.9 million, which would mean the DHS would fail to meet requirements for federal matching funds, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
