AB 477

Under current law, Family Care, Family Care Partnership, the Program of

All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), and the self-directed services option

known as IRIS (collectively known as long-term care programs) provide

community-based, long-term care services to individuals who meet certain

functional and financial criteria and who are either frail elders or adults with

physical or developmental disabilities. In a county where a long-term care program

is available, the 2011-2013 biennial budget act (

2011 Wisconsin Act 32

) caps the

enrollment in long-term care programs until June 30, 2013, for a resource center

service area at the number of individuals enrolled in those programs in that service

area on June 30, 2011, with exceptions for certain individuals relocating from an

institutional facility. This bill removes the cap on enrollment in long-term care

programs.

Family Care currently is not available in all counties. The 2011-2013 biennial

budget act prohibits the Department of Health Services (DHS) from contracting with

entities to administer Family Care in a county that does not administer Family Care

as of July 1, 2011, unless DHS determines that administering Family Care in that

county would be more cost-effective than the current long-term care service delivery

mechanism. This bill eliminates the prohibition on expansion of Family Care.

The 2011-2013 biennial budget act allocates moneys for DHS to provide

services and support items offered through Family Care to individuals who are on

a waiting list for a long-term care program and who are in urgent need of long-term

care services, as determined by DHS. This bill eliminates that funding allocation.

Currently, as required by the 2011-2013 biennial budget act, DHS must study

various aspects of the cost-effectiveness of the long-term care programs. This bill

does not alter that requirement.