Joint Finance co-chair Russ Decker said the federal government's decision to end a waiver for the state's SeniorCare program complicates the budget process.
State officials have estimated the end of the waiver would mean a loss of about $195 million in federal matching funds and rebate income from drug companies that the federal government allows the state to receive through the waiver.
"If it wasn't tricky enough doing the budget, this gives us another big hole to fill," said the Dem senator from Weston.
Fellow co-chair Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, said the decision was not a surprise and people have been working on a back-up plan.
"We have a $115 million commitment (over the biennium) to providing prescription drug coverage," she said. "We will work with the administration, and I think most people will never know there's been a switch."
Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, said he was "disappointed" by the decision, but legislators will not "sit on our hands."
"Some of us are already working to figure out a prescription drug package that will not leave seniors high and dry," he said.
La Crosse AARP member Dave Krieg came to today's hearing to praise the efforts of the Legislature and the governor to save SeniorCare before he heard this morning that the federal government had ruled against extending the waiver. He vowed that he and other Wisconsin seniors will be "camped on the doorstep" of legislators until an alternate plan is implemented.
Responding to Krieg, Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, lamented the decision, saying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Bush Administration "stuck a sword right in the heart of SeniorCare."
He said the decision "cut the legs out from senior citizens and hands the profits over to the drug companies."
Taking a break from the testimony. Jauch bristled at the HHS claim that the state didn't provide enough information about the budget neutrality of the program.
"That's just a big cop-out from an administration that continuously wants to blame everyone else for their mistakes," he said.
Jauch said the decision is "a huge financial setback" for the state and said the demise of the program means the state will no longer be able to negotiate lower prices from drug companies.
Decker agreed the end of SeniorCare poses a "big problem" for the state fiscally. But he refused to throw dirt on the program, saying there is still potential for the feds to reverse course.
"There's still a chance," he said. "We have to keep putting pressure on Bush and (HHS Secretary Mike) Leavitt. It seems they're more concerned about big oil getting a tax break than they are about older citizens who've played by the rules their whole lives."
Labels: Health Care Reform, Joint Committee on Finance, Medicare, SeniorCare
