News Briefs: Government Updates

This roundup includes the following brief government updates:

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has signed into law an appropriations bill that contains a medical home provision for the state's Medicaid program.

The bill, A.B. 75, (692-page PDF; About PDFs) requires the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to develop a proposal to increase payments to physicians and other health providers who serve as certified medical homes for Medicaid recipients. According to the measure, providers can qualify as medical homes through a recognition process established by the National Committee for Quality Assurance or by meeting standards developed by the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

The Wisconsin AFP played a key role in working with the state legislature to develop the medical home provision, according to Greg Martin, manager of state government relations for the AAFP.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services still is working out the details of the program, said Martin. But the medical home program will include monthly per-patient care-coordination fees to encourage providers to become patient-centered medical homes, he said.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III has appointed two family physicians to serve on a newly formed advisory council that is responsible for organizing and implementing medical home pilot projects created by recently enacted legislation in the state.

The legislation authorizes the study of four medical home models and creates an advisory council for the Governor's Office of Health Enhancement and Lifestyle Planning. The advisory council will organize and implement the medical home projects.

Manchin has appointed FP David Avery, M.D., of Vienna, W.Va., to the council. Avery, a member of the AAFP Board of Directors, will represent the West Virginia AFP on the council. In addition, Manchin appointed FP Steve Sebert, M.D., of Huntington, W.Va., a representative of the state's medical association, to the council.