From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Wisconsinites with disabilities at a public hearing said maintaining access to Medicaid is already hard enough and argued a bill to require eligibility checks every six months would only make the problem worse.
Meanwhile, two Republicans on the Assembly Public Benefit Reform Committee called for language in the bill to make it easier for certain Wisconsinites with disabilities to access Medicaid.
Co-author Rep. William Penterman, R-Hustisford, argued the bill is necessary to ensure only those who are “truly needy and truly qualified” receive benefits.
“This bill strikes a balance, an important balance, in preserving a strong safety net for the most vulnerable residents while curbing inappropriate long-term reliance on public assistance,” Penterman said yesterday. “This bill is a pragmatic and common-sense reform that prioritizes accountability without losing compassion.”
Under current law, the Department of Health Services checks if recipients are still eligible for Medicaid benefits annually. AB 163 would require the agency to ramp that up to every six months and conduct a review by Jan. 1 of the some 1.2 million Wisconsinites on the program to ensure they’re eligible.
Penterman said he planned to introduce an amendment “as soon as possible” to exempt people with developmental disabilities from the requirement in the bill, noting existing barriers they face.
Chad Sobieck, who was in a wheelchair, said he has a physical disability and relies on Medicaid to provide the long-term care services he uses on a daily basis. He raised concerns more bureaucracy could lead to losing care he needs.
“If there is a gap in those services, I will not be able to remain independent, and it will become a safety and health issue for me,” Sobieck said.
See more at WisPolitics.
— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Dr. Christina Henderson, CEO and founder of Madison-based Reliable Residence.
Henderson, a second-year resident physician, saw the need for a trusted platform offering short-term housing for traveling medical professionals and students while completing her own medical schooling in Colorado.
After dealing with a “terrible, terrible housing experience” during her medical rotations, “I realized that there had to be a better way for medical students to find housing for these rotations that we all have to do and are so important to our residency careers,” she said.
The platform matches traveling medical professionals and students with furnished housing on a monthly basis.
“It’s really your all-in-one solution to finding something that is close to the hospital, safe and affordable for you,” she said.
The podcast highlights Henderson’s experience balancing entrepreneurship and a medical career, her vision for the business and the path ahead.
“I don’t get a lot of sleep,” she said with a laugh. “I wake up pretty early as it is, and then I’ll work on the company or whatever needs to get done that morning … and also in the evening, when I get home late at night. This has really taken on a life of its own, but it’s so rewarding.”
Currently, the short-term housing industry focuses on vacations and even travel nurses to some extent, but Henderson says “people have kind of forgotten about medical students.” She noted these students often need housing for a month to six weeks, not as long as most travel nurse contracts, and have more restrictions around transportation and housing costs.
“Those key factors are very important to them, and we help this population, of course in addition to travel nurses, by selecting units in Madison that fit that criteria,” she said. “So we do a really good job of filtering out places that suit them to really save them a lot of time and stress, when they’re already stressed out as it is.”
Listen to the podcast and see the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts.
— In the latest Dem radio address, Gov. Tony Evers highlights his plans to improve health care statewide.
The Dem governor touts the proposals outlined in his 2025-27 budget plan to “help improve access to quality, affordable health care coverage, lower costs on health care and medication, and ensure Wisconsinites can get care quicker and closer to home.”
Evers says he’s dedicated to making new hospital investments to improve access to health care in rural communities and is proposing new strategies to improve wait times for scheduling appointments. His plan would also set price ceilings on prescription medications, including insulin, by cracking down on price gouging and health insurance companies.
“I’ve always believed that health care should not be a privilege only afforded to the healthy and wealthy — Wisconsinites should be able to get the health care you need when you need it,” he says.
— ThedaCare will open its $35 million Fond du Lac medical center on Wednesday, marking the health system’s ninth hospital.
The 25,000-square-foot campus includes an emergency department with eight beds and another 10 inpatient beds, and will offer various specialty services like cardiovascular care. The announcement notes more services may be added over time “based on community need.”
Jenny Nikolai, vice president of ThedaCare Medical Centers-Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, says the new campus aims to meet local health care needs.
“We know that demand for access to care continues to grow in Fond du Lac, where city and county populations have steadily increased over the past decade,” Nikolai said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the health system continues to work on the ThedaCare Medical Center-Oshkosh project, which is slated to be finished later this year.
See the release below.
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Press Releases
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