AUDIO:  Robin Colbert reports (:48)

Tanya Atkinson of Wisconsin’s Planned Parenthood was encouraged by all the people who rallied in their support. “There has been both in Wisconsin and nationally, an incredible outpouring of support for Planned Parenthood,” she says. “It’s been quite overwhelming.” Although Wisconsin Planned Parenthoods weren’t impacted financially by the Komen decision, Atkinson expresses concern about what she says is a troubling precedent of putting politics before women’s health.

Robin Colbert, WIBA

Representative Robin Vos, a member of the Joint Audit Committee and Co-Chair of the Joint Finance Committee, says the Medicaid audit confirms that reform is imperative. “From financial mismanagement to a spike of out-of-state residents moving here to get benefits, this audit should be a wake-up call,” Vos says in a statement. “This is not a way to conduct a program that has a $7.5 billion price tag and impacts so many lives.”

READ: Rep. Vos statement on MA audit (pdf)

“We’re still going to have a lot of problems in this overall program for a long time,” says Cowles. “It’s massive. It’s expanding faster than the rate of inflation, faster than the ability of the state taxpayer to continue to fund it. We have to find ways to tighten it up, otherwise it will out compete other programs in state government.” Cowles says he’s “mostly happy” with the response of Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith and his staff to the audit, while noting there is still some disagreement between the agency and the Audit Bureau.

“I’m encouraged the current administration is beginning to implement the necessary reforms,” says the statement from Vos. “I have every confidence that under the leadership of DHS Secretary Dennis Smith, we’ll see improvements in the near future. The department has a new level of transparency and willingness to work with everyone. After this audit, it’s evident that the former administration may have needed to resort to improper practices due to the mishandling of the program.”

Wininsky says the roll-your-own shops use cigar tobacco, which is taxed lower than cigarette tobacco. The shops sell loose tobacco and cigarette papers to customers who assemble their own smokes on the spot. Wininsky says the end product cost less than already-made expensive name brands, so any accomplishments gained from the higher price of cigarettes as a result of a hefty tax, is undone by the roll-your-own operations.

Also, the percentage of youth smokers is down from previous years, but Wininsky says marketing efforts are hindering that success. “It was over 30 percent not too terribly long ago; it’s about 20 percent now. There’s all kinds of new flavored, candy-flavored, fruit-flavored products and kids who at one time might have been cigarette smokers are now smoking grape-flavored cigarillos, for example.”

Wininsky says the laws need to catch up with the new products available to the public.

A recent report by the American Lung Association said Wisconsin falls short when it comes to protecting residents from the harms of tobacco, giving the state two Fs, a B, and an A. (Tobacco Prevention and Control Funding, F; Smoke free Air, A; Cigarette Tax Rate, B; and Coverage of Cessation Treatments and Services, F.)

AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report 1:44

AUDIO: Rep. Terese Berceau (5:50)

The resolution, designating this as “reproductive rights awareness week” is being introduced in fifteen state legislatures, although Representative Terese Berceau doubts GOP leadership in Madison will place it on the agenda when the Assembly takes the floor on Thursday. “The resolution will be submitted,” she says. “As to whether or not it will be allowed to brought up on the floor is doubtful.”

Berceau says Green Bay Republican Representative Chad Weininger signed on as a cosponsor – his office says that was a mistake.

UPDATE 1/25: Rep. Weininger’s staff says there was miscommunication between his office and Berceau’s and that he never signed on in support of the reproductive rights resolution – although he is co-sponsoring a bill from Berceau which targets human trafficking. Berceau’s office says Weininger’s name was removed as a cosponsor of the resolution prior to its introduction.      

AUDIO: Robert Kraig interview (5:15)

“Stopping the encroachment of ObamaCare in our state, which has the potential to have a devastating impact on Wisconsin’s economy, is a top priority,” said Governor Scott Walker said in a statement last week announcing the rejection of nearly $38 million of Early Innovator Grant funds from the federal government. Walker also announced he would sign an Executive Order to repeal the executive order that established the Office of Free Market Health Care.

Kraig says the action by Walker was all the talk at last week’s conference. “Even people from very conservative states that you would consider to be to the right of Wisconsin, deep red states, are shocked by the behavior,” he says. “It really is stunning.”

Wisconsin got an A for smoke-free air — protecting people in public and at work, but Dona Wininsky with the American Lung Association-Wisconsin chapter says the Badger State only got a B for its cigarette tax. She says Wisconsin’s tax is higher than the national average. The tax increases the overall price, which is a great deterrent for using the product.

The group’s State of Tobacco Control 2012 report grades the state based on existing policies. As for tobacco control and funding, the state got an F. The report also gives Wisconsin an F for its coverage of cessation treatments and services. Wininsky says the state’s Quitline is underfunded. The CDC’s recommendation is $10.50 per smoker to adequately help them quit; instead, the Quitline is currently funded at 73 cents per smoker. Wininsky says she doesn’t have huge expectations to be funded at the high levels recommended by the CDC, but says she would at least like to see the program restored to where it had been before the cuts in the recent budget.

Wininsky says, at 20.7 percent, the high school smoking rates are still “uncomfortably” high, but she says the good news is the percentage of youth smokers is down from previous years. According to the American Lung Association, 443,000 people die from tobacco-related illnesses and secondhand smoke exposure each year. Tobacco causes an estimated 7,240 Wisconsin deaths annually and costs the state’s economy $3.7 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity. Compared to the rest of the nation, Wisconsin falls somewhere in the middle.

Wininsky says up until last year, Wisconsin was getting an F in smokefree air, too. So, going from F to A is a leap forward. Also, the cigarette tax has been increased a couple of times, which helps deter people from smoking in the first place.

Allison Miller with the ACS says these networks would allow affordable insurance to be accessed. She says the uninsured tend to not keep up on preventative testing: the result is higher health costs which put taxpayers on-the-hook.

“Congress found that in 2008, the cost of providing uncompensated care to uninsured individuals was about $43 billion,” said Miller.

Governor Walker said in a statement he is concerned with, “increased health care costs and insurance premiums.”

The exchanges are part of a federal mandate under the Affordable Care Act.

Ronnie Carda, Faculty Associate at UW-Madison Department of Kinesiology, says that is a reason less glamorous, smaller gyms running 24-7 have been popping up in neighborhoods.

Carda says when taking on a new exercise routine the first five weeks should be about making the activity a habit by planning times to work out. He also says to “learn the techniques of the activity.” For example if walking is the new activity, make sure you have the right shoes and find the best routes.

He adds this time of year can be a challenging time to start a fitness routine as cold weather and limited sunlight can dampen one’s motivation.

State Representative Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah) was at the press conference Wednesday morning, where Governor Walker announced he was ending the cap because of cost savings found in the program.

Kaufert says no mention was about a letter sent by federal officials earlier this month, which informed the state the cap was not allowed and directed officials to reopen the program. Kaufert says the first he found about it was when the letter became public later that day.

The Neenah Republican, who backed efforts to create the Family Care program, says the letter is clearly what “forced the administration’s hand” on lifting the cap.

AUDIO: Rep. Dean Kaufert (:15)

Despite the omission, Kaufert says lifting the cap is still the right thing to do and more people will now be able to take advantage of the program. However, he says the governor will likely need to do mend some fences to win legislative approval for the expansion plan, which will go before the Joint Finance Committee early next year.

AUDIO: Rep. Kaufert (:09)

The Walker administration insists it was the Governor’s decision to lift the cap, saying he always planned to do so by the end of the year.

Rick Schuh, WHBY

The governor on Wednesday offered a plan to lift an enrollment cap and to make the program providing long-term care assistance for the elderly and disabled available in every county. State Representative Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) says federal officials actually deserve credit for the decision, based on a letter sent to the state earlier this month that informed the administration that program enrollment could not be capped under the waiver agreement with the state.

The December 13th letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ordered the state to remove the cap, and to admit anyone who had applied after it was put in place July 1st as part of the state budget. Richards says Walker taking credit for something he is being forced to do by the Obama administration is “despicable.”

Richards and several other Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to federal officials earlier this year, asking them to reject Wisconsin’s request for a cap on the program.

The Walker administration maintains Wednesday’s press conference, which made no mention of the letter, was part of an ongoing commitment to lift the cap on Family Care enrollment. A spokesman for the governor says the cap was always intended to be temporary.

In a statement released Thursday, state Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith adds that the plan to expand the program to all 72 counties goes beyond any ongoing discussions with federal officials.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:08)