Month: March 2011

Local school district officials may be switching health care plans for their teachers if Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed changes in his budget adjustment bill come to fruition. The much-contested budget repair bill would eliminate almost all collective bargaining for state employees and require those on state health plans to contribute 12.5 percent to the costs. (WISCONSIN REPORTER, 3/4)

House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is continuing to press the White House to take on entitlements, this time accusing President Obama of failing to follow a provision of a Medicare law. Ryan claims the White House owes Congress a plan for shoring up Medicare funding because the federal government is covering more than its targeted share of the program. Ryan points to a provision of the 2003 Medicare law that requires the president to act. (POLITICO, 3/3)

Gov. Scott Walker wants to again give insurance companies discretion over whether they will cover contraception. His budget, released Tuesday, proposes the elimination of a recently passed law that requires insurance plans that cover prescription drugs to also include coverage for prescription birth control. (CAPITAL TIMES, 3/3)

Under Governor Walker's budget, SeniorCare recipients who qualify for the federal plan would have to sign up for it in January, saving the state $15 million over two years. The move is part of $500 million in cuts in the biennial budget to Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 3/3)