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• Feds nix SeniorCare, say Doyle admin failed to provide info
• UW-River Falls launches ambitious new 'Institute for Sustainability'
• RF power customers earn national recognition
• Is the new River Falls charter school dead?

By Brady Bautch, RiverTown staff

The federal government has told Wisconsin that if it wants to continue the state's SeniorCare program it will have to do it without federal funds.

The acting director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says that the lower than projected participation in the program along with a failure by Gov. Jim Doyle's administration to provide required information were the reason behind the move.

Doyle, however, put the blame on President Bush.

"The Bush administration has made it impossible for Wisconsin to continue the SeniorCare program," Doyle said.

The decision means that Wisconsin seniors would need to start using the Medicare Part D prescription drug program after June 30. Wisconsin is the only state not using the Part D program.

In a March 30 letter to Wisconsin newspaper editors, Leslie Norwalk, acting CMS administrator, said that SeniorCare has only enrolled 52 percent of the people it originally projected.

She noted that because of the low enrollment the state is paying only half of its projected cost and that it could use the money it is saving to fund beneficiary premiums and cost-sharing under the Medicare plan.

"This would cost the state less than the original $100 million it originally committed to the program," Norwalk said in her letter.

A CMS spokesman says that many states have developed Part D wrap-around programs which are basically a state-funded Part D supplement which helps pay cost-shares for low-income Part D participants.

"Through the combination of Medicare Part D and a state wrap-around you can catch more people who are now falling through the cracks," said Bob Herskowitz.

He added that with the wrap-arounds the Part D program is very effective at keeping user costs low.

CMS also says that the Doyle administration failed to provide the information needed for CMS to determine if Wisconsin's SeniorCare program was budget-neutral to Medicare.

In a letter delivered Wednesday to Doyle, Norwalk says the state failed to provide information about who was using SeniorCare the agency can't tell if the program is budget neutral.

Norwalk added that identifying the population which is served by SeniorCare is a fundamental requirement.

"When we worked with CMS in 2005 they had a definition for budget neutrality and we met that definition, but somewhere along the way they (CMS) changed the definition because they wanted to kill the program," said Carla Vigue, a Doyle spokesperson.

Norwalk also asserted that the Doyle administration failed to outline how SeniorCare participants who qualify for a low-income subsidy would be moved to the Medicare Part D program.

She also said the state failed to make sure there is a smooth transition for seniors to the Part D program, because it didn't consider a request by the agency to consider a "wrap-around" program.

Doyle answered that his administration has been working since 2005 to develop a wrap-around program, but that not a single private insurer was willing to participate.

"Twenty-one states provide a wrap-around benefit to supplement Part D, thereby providing many models for Wisconsin to draw upon," Norwalk said in her letter.

She added that her agency would be able to extend the deadline for seniors to switch to Part D until Dec. 31, 2007, if Wisconsin would provide some type of transition program.

Vigue says that the administration is working on getting the extension.

"The main thing is that we provide a smooth transition for Wisconsin seniors," Vigue said.

One local lawmaker took issue with the Doyle administration's failure to provide the information.

"I have serious concerns by comments contained in the letter citing a failure by the Doyle administration to 'submit critical information' necessary for consideration of Wisconsin's request for an extension, despite repeated requests," said Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson.

She added that she will work with members of the Legislature to ensure that the federal government gets the information they need.

Brady Bautch is the Internet Publisher for the RiverTown Newspaper Group. He can be contacted at internet@rivertowns.net

Meant to address energy, environmental, social and economic issues at the local, regional and global levels, UW-River Falls officials announced today the formation of the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development.

"The Institute represents our commitment to responding to the many calls for assistance from local governments and nonprofit organizations that have been increasing every year, as well as our initiatives in our own campus community," said UW-RF Chancellor Don Betz. <B>UW-RF is reallocating campus resources to launch the Institute. Kelly Cain, professor at UW-RF's College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, was named the Institute's director. A faculty member since 1986, Cain officially begins his duties May 15.

"I am genuinely humbled by this appointment, yet very excited to address the opporutinites that lie ahead," Cain said. "Establishing the SCISCD is testament to the unreserved commitment that UW-RF has to the people of the St. Croix River valley, the state, nation and beyond for addressing sustainable community issues."

Cain said the new Institute -- located in UW-RF's RDI building on campus -- will work with the Western Wisconsin Intergovernmental Collaborative and other agencies to identify community problems and regional concerns, and then offer assistance.

Cain said UW-RF's faculty will build "interdisciplinary teams of students" to help solve problems related to growth and energy.

He added that the new Institute will follow procedures that have already worked before when UW-RF has responed to requests for community assitance from Hudson, River Falls, St. Croix Falls, Osceola and Amery. Those projects have ranged from revitalizing downtowns and reclaiming brown spaces to exploring "green" industrial parks and reviewing model ordinances.

"We are in the ideal place and time to bring the resources of the university to bear on issues of real concern on campus, in the St. Croix Valley and beyond," Betz said. "We not only intend to be a regional partner in facilitating discussions and implementing solutions on sustainability, but we will do this in a way that is a model for other regions around the state, nation and beyond that are experiencing pervasive change."

Look for more on this story in the April 11 print edition of the River Falls Journal.

Customers buying renewable energy from River Falls Municipal Utilities district powered the utility back onto the nation's Top 10 list for customer participation among utilities offering green power.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) creates a few different lists by ranking companies that offer green power according to their customer participation, renewable energy sales, total number of customers, and price premium for customer-driven renewable power.

River Falls landed the number 9 spot, sharing the list with "big-dog" utilities serving tens and hundreds of thousands of customers. For example, Portland General Electric (Oregon) holds the number 4 spot and Sacramento Municipal Utility District (California) holds the number 5 position.

Community-owned RFMU serves about 5,500 customers and remains the only Wisconsin utility to make the green-power top-10 list for customer participation.

Hear from Mayor Don Richards, see what other companies made the list and read more details about the recognition in next week's print edition of the River Falls Journal.

Financial concerns from administrators and the school board's Education Program Committee apparently have put an end to launching the Kinnickinnic Valley Middle School this fall.

Monday night the Committee decided not to recommend approving the charter for KVMS.

In the first year, KVMS was supposed to serve 6th and 7th graders; in the second year, 8th graders would be added. Joe Young, longtime Rocky Branch Elementary School teacher, has been on leave to plan and design the new school's curriculum and structure.

KVMS was to be located in two classrooms at the Meyer Middle School. It was to have a project-based, environmental and community emphasis that called for partnerships with local businesses and other agencies.

"It was not the philosophy or the desirability of the school that was a concern," said Committee Chairwoman Chris Wing. "It was simply a matter of dollars and cents."

Wing said there was concern that the school district would have to shift resources to accommodate KVMS. In addition, KVMS had not attracted any open-enrollment students from other school districts. Those students bring an infusion of state aid, which would give KVMS a better chance of financial self-sufficiency.

Wing admitted the decision not to recommend the new middle school's charter was "difficult and sad."

She said Meyer Middle School Prinicipal Mike Johnson would like to implement more "project-based" instructional approaches -- similar to those advocated for KVMS -- at the middle school in the coming years.

Young, who gave up his Rocky Branch teaching position to become KVMS lead teacher, was surprised that the new school's charter wasn't approved.

Young said the goal was to enroll 30-40 students for the fall semester, and that close to 30 have already committed. He said that for the short term, the KVMS would not be any kind of drain.

"Financially it's really a wash," he said.

Young's projections show 26 full-time teachers next year for Meyer Middle School either with KVMS in the building or not. His argument is that the 30-some students affected this fall will either be taking regular middle school classes next year or KVMS classes.

"Right now I'm confused," he said. "The decision caught me off guard. I don't know what I'll be doing next. I haven't been told yet to stop the planning and preparations I've been doing for the new school."

Linda Jacobson, a key organizer and planner for KVMS, said school supporters were shocked by Monday's action.

A core planning group was close to applying for a huge implementation grant of between $150-$200,000 to pay for computer software, hardware, equipment and other school supplies. That grant application is now on hold.

"I'm extremely disappointed," Jacobson said. "There was a lot of effort that went into this. It's the wave of education for the future. We had a state-of-the-art program being set up for the middle school, and instead they chose to stay with the status quo."

Jacobson said that once established, KVMS would have attracted families and students to the school district just as the Montessori Program has done for elementary-age students and the Renaissance Program has done for high school-age students.

Jacobson and other KVMS supporters will meet Monday evening to see if anything can be done to save their school concept.

We don't know if there are anymore options," she said.

Read more about this story in the April 11 print edition of the River Falls Journal.