Image courtesy of One Wisconsin Now |
Last summer, I told the Journal Sentinel editorial board that we would have a plan to lift the caps on Family Care by the end of the year. In December, we introduced our plan to insure that the program is stable for years to come.We already know that he planned for the caps to be in place for at least two years since that is the way he wrote it into his budget.
This week, I followed through on my plan and signed the new bill into law, which lifts the caps so that seniors needing long-term care - as well as people with developmental and physical disabilities - can now participate in Family Care. I signed it at an agency called Independence First.
It was appropriate to sign the bill at this location because Independence First connects individuals with the resources to live independently at home by utilizing Family Care and other programs. This type of patient-focused care saves taxpayers money as it keeps people out of higher cost facilities. This is truly a win-win.
I want to thank Rep Dean Kaufert and Sen Terry Moulton for their leadership in helping us on this new legislation that is good for the State of Wisconsin. We were happy to put together the plan to both lift the cap and open the process to expansion into every part of the state. And we are thankful to lawmakers for approving it.
We also know that the lifting of the caps was not his idea at all since it was the federal government that told him the caps were illegal and could cost the state nearly two billion dollars if they did not lift the caps. (It's not the first time Walker's "cost saving" stunts ended up blowing up on him and the taxpayers.)
But the kicker is when he admits that "this type of patient-focused care saves taxpayers money as it keeps people out of higher cost facilities."
This is something that the left and advocates for the disabled has been screaming about ever since he introduced his budget. Even more, Walker knew it fully well, since he kept bragging about it when he was campaigning for governor.
I keep wondering how long the media and Walker's apologists are going to keep putting up with this before they realize they can no longer defend the indefensible.
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