The Wisconsin Department of Health Services recently released a proposal to overhaul the state’s long-term care programs in order to save up to $300 Million. However, many are skeptical about the proposal, since it lacks specifics about transitioning patients, among other areas.

SF Gate discusses the topic further.

The estimate comes as the department seeks Joint Finance Committee approval on a plan detailing changes to Family Care and IRIS, which provide long-term care to more than 55,000 Wisconsin residents. Under the new system, insurance companies will oversee both medical care and long-term care like bathing, cleaning and cooking.

But legislators, clients and advocates have been pressing for more details before the plan is approved and sent to the federal government for review.

“The whole thing lacks specificity,” said Rep. Kathleen Bernier, a Republican from Chippewa Falls who sits on the Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care.

The DHS’ two-page document provides some additional details on financial estimates and consumer care, though some stakeholders’ questions were still unanswered.

Under the proposed system, medical care and long-term care would both be overseen by insurance companies who apply to become integrated health agencies, or IHAs. The state would be divided into three zones, and each zone would be served by three IHAs selected through a competitive bidding process.

[…]

The new, more holistic model will keep members healthier and thereby reduce the need for services, DHS said. Programs in other states have seen savings of about 11 percent in switching from fee-for-service models to managed care, the department said, though it used a more conservative estimate of 7 percent savings due to potential unknown factors.

Using that estimate, DHS said the total savings will come to at least $300 million over the next six years compared to the current program — about $1,000 in savings per Family Care member, per year, by the sixth year of the program.

[…]

Advocates and those who use the program say the changes might not be as detrimental as they initially feared, but they are concerned about some of the unknowns, including how thousands of people will be transitioned to the new program and whether IHAs will work as closely with clients as managed care organizations currently do.

Legislators say that while specifics of the program are progressing, they will be unable to tell how effective it is until the program is in use for a few years.

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