Category: Accomplishments
Photo by Richard Hurd
WPS is awarded Medicare J5 contract
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Enwright, (608) 977-7165, thomas.enwright@wpsic.com
WPS is awarded Medicare J5 contract
MADISON, Wis.—Sept. 27, 2019—WPS has been awarded the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) Jurisdiction 5 contract, it was announced Sept. 20 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The J5 award is for Part A and Part B Medicare benefit administration for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. This contract also provides Part A Medicare benefit administration for specific providers in more than 40 other states across the nation. The award is for one base year and six option years, which will extend to 2026.
“This is exciting news,” said Janet Kyle, Executive Vice President of WPS Government Health Administrators. “It reaffirms everything that we have been working toward over the past several years. CMS has seen the transformation to our technology and processes. They have seen the commitment and dedication of our high-performing staff. They have seen that we are thought-leaders and are here to help CMS with their challenges and to reduce the burden for our providers.”
CMS awarded WPS the first J5 contract in September 2006, and then re-awarded it to WPS in July 2012.
WPS also has the contract for Jurisdiction 8, which includes the Part A and Part B workload for Michigan and Indiana.
About WPS Health Solutions
WPS Health Solutions is a nationally regarded government contractor and a leading Wisconsin not-for-profit health insurer. The WPS Health Insurance division offers affordable health plans and benefits administration. The WPS Government Health Administrators division administers Part A and B Medicare benefits for millions of seniors in multiple states, and the WPS Military and Veterans Health division serves millions more members who are active in the U.S. military, veterans and their families. In 2019, the international Ethisphere® Institute named WPS one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® for the 10th straight year. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.
Photo by Richard Hurd
Badgers’ Economic Impact? $610 Million
MADISON, Wis. — In athletics, statistics matter. For Wisconsin Athletics, two numbers stand out from a recently completed economic impact report.
The Badgers provide a $610 million total annual economic impact for the state of Wisconsin.
Zoom in on the city of Madison and the Badgers provide a $395 million total annual economic impact for the local community. That’s also 1.8 million visitors to the city each year.
Completed in June with Econsult Solutions, Inc., the economic impact report sheds light on the many economic benefits the Badgers’ 23 athletic teams and supporting organization bring to the area through hosting football games, other sports competitions and other events like high school state tournaments, concerts and more.
“The fact that Badger Athletics has such an impact on our city, region and state is a great source of pride for us,” said Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez. “Our athletic program is woven into the fabric of not only the Madison area, but all over our great state.
“The financial figures back that up and they go hand-in-hand with the strong bond we have with the residents of our state.”
Notably, the $610 million impact equates to 4,480 jobs and a $12 million tax revenue impact. In Madison, the $395 million impact brings 2,950 jobs and a $1.7 million tax revenue impact.
Fall Saturdays at Camp Randall Stadium? Each home football game provides $16 million in total economic impact on the Wisconsin economy.
The report also highlights the Badgers’ impact more specifically in direct spending by athletic department operations, capital investments, attendee spending, ancillary spending and broader societal impacts.
The full report is available online here – https://uwbadgers.com/economicimpact.
Photo by Richard Hurd
Bachmann Construction Completes Restoration of Historic Garver Feed Mill; Currently Building Spaces for Additional Businesses at Garver Opening in September
Media Contact: Joan Collins Publicity, Inc. (608) 222-2899
Bachmann Construction, the Madison-based general contractor for the $15.5 million restoration of the historic Garver Feed Mill, behind Olbrich Gardens, has completed the core renovation encompassing 60,000 square feet of space at the Registered National Historic Landmark building.
Chicago developer Baum Revision, LLC, retained Bachmann Construction to turn the former beet factory and later a feed mill, into a hub for food producers and retailers plus wellness-focused businesses.
Bachmann is currently building individual spaces for Perennial Yoga and Surya Café, opening in mid-September, followed by Kosa Spa in late September, according to Naomi Kroth, Bachmann project manager.
Chris Quandt, Bachmann project manager who led the 18-month complex Garver renovation process said the strict restrictions on restoring a historic building on the National Historic Registry required approvals for windows, railings, brick and more from city, state and national preservation groups. Another challenge involved demolishing old walls with no roof overhead to provide stability. Because the 119-year old building was crumbling, Bachmann also had to take extra safety precautions for workmen.
Al Bachmann, president of Bachmann Construction, said the completion of the renovation, including a 13,500 square foot atrium event center, is a fitting way to celebrate Bachmann’s 65 years as a family-owned Madison-based business. Restoration is one of the specialties at the design-build firm, including renovation projects at the Capitol, Olin House, University Club, several area churches and restaurants.
Photo by Richard Hurd
Momentum Growing Behind One City’s Innovative Model
Madison , WI – Three prominent community leaders and philanthropists, Diane Ballweg and Mary Ellyn and Joe Sensenbrenner, have donated $50,000 and $100,000 respectively to help fund One City’s year-round elementary school. One City operates the only public school in Wisconsin that has both a longer school day and year.
“The focus, methods, leadership and initial results of One City are remarkable” said Joe Sensenbrenner. “If they can continue on this path, they may have the greatest civic impact of any organization working in Madison today, and on the future success of children coming of age in our city. Mary Ellyn and I are excited about the results we have seen from One City’s two-generation preschool so far.”
Ms. Sensenbrenner added, “Children are learning. Parents are engaged. Families are benefiting. We were happy to step in to help fill a gap in needed state funding for One City’s year-round elementary school. What our city, state and the country will learn from One City made our extension of support an easy investment. ”
Diane Ballweg shared similar reasons for her gift. “I have been a supporter of One City since they began renovating their current facility four years go. One thing that I am impressed by and supportive of is their high level of parental involvement and parental education. A child’s success depends on the effectiveness and dedication of their teachers, and on love, support and encouragement of their parents,” She said. “I believe that every child deserves the right to an education that prepares them to succeed and thrive in the future. However, with rights come responsibilities, for parents, school staff and children. All must work together and do their part to ensure children learn and move forward in school and life.”
Ballweg’s support was inspired by another unique aspect of One City’s mission as well. “The fact that One City has paired together its award-winning preschool with its new innovative elementary school, creating a well-planned continuum of education that will serve children from ages 1 through grade 6, gives our youngest children a unique opportunity to get on track and stay on track educationally,” She said. “It will also give public education an important new model of education to learn from. For these reasons, I feel it is imperative that we support One City. I hope others will follow and do the same.”
One City’s year-round school program is just one of the many unique strategies it is deploying to help seed a new model of education that will help boost the academic achievement and attainment of all children, particularly Wisconsin’s most disadvantaged children. With two teachers in every classroom from preschool through first grade, significant student support services, longer instructional days through elementary school, a school food program that provides children a healthy breakfast, lunch and snack prepared on-site by a skilled chef each day, and a two-generation school program that includes and supports parents inside and outside of the school, One City is combining long-discussed educational innovations with strategies that educators know work for children.
“We are committed to our year-round model, but it is entirely unfunded by the state. Our longer school days aren’t funded either,” said Kaleem Caire, founder and CEO of One City Schools. “These gifts by Ms. Ballweg and the Sensenbrenners have come at the right time. Their generous support will help us fund our longer school day and our “third semester” this summer, which together, cost us $550,000 from June through August. Without this support, we could not operate two of the most important features of our school model and our school would shut down for the summer.”
Caire also shared that, “We still have $150,000 to raise for this summer, but we believe others in our community will help us close this gap. Then, Caire added, “We will focus on achieving our fundraising goal for the upcoming 2019-20 school year that starts on September 3rd.”
Caire noted that One City’s mission is to seed a new model of public education that ensures young children are on track to succeed in a college or career preparatory program from birth through high school graduation. “We are making great progress with our children, but we need we need our community’s financial support until we can leverage adequate funding for our unique model from the state. We have already begun engaging key leaders at the state-level about supporting public schools with school schedules and calendars like ours,” he said. “But it will take us a few years, positive educational results, and an effective policy education agenda to achieve breakthrough.”
The Sensenbrenner’s and Ballweg’s most recent gifts follow a $50,000 donation from internationally-know photographer, Catherine Zdeblick, announced last week.
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About One City Schools
One City Schools, Incorporated is a nonprofit organization that operates two schools: a tuition-based independent preschool that serves children ages 1 through 3 and a tuition-free public charter school, authorized by the University of Wisconsin System, that will eventually enroll children from 4-year-old kindergarten through 6thgrade.
- Read What Parents Say About One City
- Read What Teachers and Staff Say About One City
- Read One City’s Plan to Transformation Public Education
This fall, One City’s charter school will enroll 98 children in 4K, 5k and first grade. Children will attend school for 219 days compared to 180 days at other public schools in Wisconsin. They will also attend school for 8.75-hours per day Tuesday through Friday (from 8:15am – 5:00pm) with early release at 2pm on Mondays, compared to 6.5 hours of school-time typically offered by other public schools in our state. The extra time enables One City to extend the learning of its students and offer a pace and depth of learning that is appropriate and meaningful for each child.
Photo by Richard Hurd
WPS partners with TriWest Healthcare Alliance on contract to administer Community Care Network in Region 4 for Veterans Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Tom Enwright
(608) 977-7165
WPS partners with TriWest Healthcare Alliance on contract to administer Community Care Network in Region 4 for Veterans Affairs
MADISON, Wis.—Aug. 8, 2019— WPS Military and Veterans Health today announced that it is one of the major subcontractors supporting the contract awarded to TriWest Healthcare Alliance by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to administer its new Community Care Network (CCN) serving military veterans across Region 4.
“WPS has a successful record of working with TriWest on the Patient-Centered Community Care (PC3) and Veterans Choice programs,” said Dave Marshall, Executive Vice President of WPS Military and Veterans Health. “We look forward to continuing to partner with TriWest to serve our nation’s veterans. I extend thanks to our WPS employees for their outstanding performance in supporting the VA programs.”
TriWest administers the VA’s Patient-Centered Community Care program in all 50 states, the Pacific Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. WPS has worked with TriWest to provide claims processing services in support of TriWest’s current VA contract, which will continue under TriWest’s new CCN contract with VA for Region 4.
The geographic area of responsibility in Region 4 will include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
The new CCN contract will connect veterans to community health care providers when the VA is unable to provide those services directly. With the new contract, TriWest will be responsible for building out and maintaining a network of community health care providers, paying claims, and providing customer service in support of the VA’s health care mission. Other optional functions include appointment scheduling, care coordination, case management, and disease management services.
“At TriWest, it has been our privilege to serve the health care needs of the veteran and military community for over two decades. We are humbled to have the opportunity through this contract to continue our work alongside the VA, through which we have served 1.8 million veterans with the provision of 11.9 million appointments from our network of over 1.1 million providers, as we continue to partner with WPS MVH for the next generation of our work in serving our nation’s veterans,” said David J. McIntyre Jr., President and CEO of TriWest Healthcare Alliance.
To learn more about the Community Care Network through the Department of Veterans Affairs, visit: www.triwest.com. Veterans can visit www.va.gov to learn about eligibility.
About WPS Health Solutions
WPS Health Solutions is a nationally regarded government contractor and a leading Wisconsin not-for-profit health insurer. The WPS Health Insurance division offers affordable health plans and benefits administration. The WPS Government Health Administrators division administers Part A and B Medicare benefits for millions of seniors in multiple states, and the WPS Military and Veterans Health division serves millions more members who are active in the U.S. military, veterans and their families. In 2019, the international Ethisphere® Institute named WPS one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® for the 10th straight year. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.