Good news on SeniorCare, Family Care

Great news:

SeniorCare to run through 2009 (JSOnline, May 24, 2007)

Washington - Wisconsin's SeniorCare prescription drug program, set to
expire this year, will get a sudden two-year lease on life under a
provision tucked into the emergency war spending package that Congress
passed Thursday night.

”The program will continue on," Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) said.
He and the House Appropriations Committee chairman, Rep. Dave Obey
(D-Wis.), inserted the language into the hotly debated spending bill
that President Bush has said he will sign.

However, as James Schmidlkofer, Bureau of Aging and Disability Resources
Office on Aging, reminds us, until the spending bill is passed, nothing is final. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, what do we tell seniors? Schmidlkoffer thinks it’s safe to say that:

1. All current SeniorCare participants should remain in SeniorCare.
2. Seniors who get a SeniorCare renewal form in the mail should
complete the renewal.

Family Care expansion approved by a vote of 15 to 1

Also on May 24, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) approved a modified version of Governor Doyle's proposed expansion of Family Care. According to a briefing circulated to members of the Make It Work Milwaukee Coalition, “The motion approves the Governor's proposal on funding, retains legislative oversight of expansion, requires consent by a county to participate in Family Care, spells out specifics and decreases the county share of costs, provides ombudsman advocacy services for participants under the age of 60, and increases the funding available for the children's long-term support program.”

Joint Finance also funded Independent Advocates (Yr 1 = 4 FTE and Yr 2 = 6 FTE,) to assist consumers in the Family Care expansion.

Read the approved version of the bill here.