COUNTY TO ENTER NURSING HOME CARE NETWORK LOOKS TO STRENGTHEN BARGAINING POWER

The Sauk County Health Care Center will join a network that includes other government-run nursing homes in hopes of securing more payments from insurance companies.

The Sauk County Board voted 27-3 May 17 to approve a contract with the LeadingChoice Network, which consists of various nonprofit entities involved with managed care health plans.

The county's Reedsburg-based nursing home has difficulty collecting between 10 percent and 15 percent of its billings, according to Sauk County Health Care Center Administrator Jennifer Vosen.

She said it's difficult for a lone nursing home to deal with major insurance providers, who are unwilling to contract with single entities. Becoming part of a consortium would allow the county facility to have access to a team of case management specialists who could help battle insurance companies for payment.

Vosen said large insurance companies, such as Humana, have begun to take back payments to nursing homes dating back as much as seven years.

"So a resident who has been discharged 5 years ago, they're coming in now and doing chart reviews and taking back money," Vosen said, adding that the ability to secure more payments from insurance companies would likely lead to less reliance on county taxpayers.

Newly elected Supervisor Rebecca Hovde of Baraboo said she has done billing for outpatient mental health clinics and therapists, and has experienced pushback from large insurance companies.

"They prey on people," she said. "I think this is a good investment if you can put some road blocks up and make them play nice. I think that's great."

The cost of joining the network is $1,500 per year, plus $67.39 per licensed bed for a total of $7,026.

Supervisors Brian Peper of Loganville, Eric Peterson of Prairie du Sac, and Andy Andrews of Baraboo voted against the resolution.

Peper was the only supervisor who opposed the resolution to speak during the May 17 debate. He challenged Hovde's assertion that the Sauk County Health Care Center is the only nursing home in the county with a five-star rating.

That seems to depend on who is doing the rating.

The Sauk County Health Care Center is indeed the only nursing home that gets a five-star rating from Nursing Home Compare, a website run by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Other Sauk County nursing homes get five-star ratings on non-governmental review sites, such as one run by U.S. News & World Report.

The board also took the following action:

Voted unanimously to authorize the refunding of $7.4 million in debt.

Voted 29-1 to use $350,000 contingency funds to balance the budgets of departments that fell short in 2015.

Voted unanimously to eliminate the county's environmental health technician position and create an additional full-time sanitarian for the Sauk County Health Department.

Voted unanimously to accept the gift of a gazebo from the Sauk County Health Care Center Foundation.

Voted 29-1 to approve the addition of all-terrain vehicle and utility-terrain vehicle crossings and routes on county trunk highways.

Voted 28-2 to authorize the construction of a road salt storage facility for the Sauk County Highway Department. WisDOT reimburses department an average of approximately $4,600 for maintenance and repair of county salt storage facilities.

Voted unanimously to dissolve the Sauk County Natural Beauty Council.

Voted unanimously to authorize the Sauk County Clerk to issue quit claim for lands in the Town of Woodland and the City of Baraboo.

In other business

The Sauk County Board also took the following action Tuesday:

Voted unanimously to authorize the refunding of $7.4 million in debt.Voted 29-1 to use $350,000 contingency funds to balance the budgets of departments that fell short in 2015.Voted unanimously to eliminate the county's environmental health technician position and create an additional full-time sanitarian for the Sauk County Health Department.Voted unanimously to accept the gift of gazebo from the Sauk County Health Care Center Foundation.Voted 29-1 to approve the addition of all-terrain vehicle and utility-terrain vehicle crossings and routes on county trunk highways.Voted 28-2 to authorize the construction of a road salt storage facility for the Sauk County Highway Department. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reimburses an average of about $4,600 for maintenance and repair of county salt storage facilities.Voted unanimously to dissolve the Sauk County Natural Beauty Council.Voted unanimously to authorize the county clerk to issue quit claim for lands in the town of Woodland and the city of Baraboo.