70 Bethany Lutheran residents fear eviction in Medicaid contract dispute

Jan. 08--Sons, daughters and and other relatives are coping with angst and anger over the possibility that their elderly loved ones are among almost 70 residents at Bethany Lutheran Homes facilities who face eviction March 3 because of a contract dispute with their Medicaid insurance vendor.

Contract negotiations resumed Monday afternoon between Bethany Lutheran and officials of Inclusa, a managed-care organization based in Stevens Point that was formed in the merger of Community Care Connections of Wisconsin, Western Wisconsin Cares and ContinuUs a year ago.

For its part, "Bethany Lutheran Homes has no desire to terminate our existing contract or for any of the nearly 70 people affected to move away from our care," according to a statement Bethany Lutheran CEO Todd Wilson issued Monday.

Inclusa CEO Mark Hilliker said a negotiating team was in La Crosse for talks with Bethany Lutheran officials.

Inclusa sent a letter to its clients Jan. 3 stating that it was unable to reach a contract agreement on residential rates during negotiations in November and December. As a result, Inclusa's letter said, Bethany Lutheran planned to stop serving Inclusa members on March 3. Relatives of Bethany Lutheran residents who received the letter said it was tantamount to an eviction notice.

Bethany Lutheran facilities have cared for residents in the Family Care Medicaid Insurance Program for 17 years, Wilson's statement said.

"We are hopeful an agreement can be reached so all residents can remain at our locations and Bethany Lutheran Homes can continue to provide the care residents and their families have come to expect," the statement said.

Bethany Lutheran Homes, which is affiliated with Gundersen Health System and includes 22 member churches, has 10 facilities in La Crosse, Holmen and Onalaska that include services ranging from independent and assisted living to high-acuity assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing care and rehabilitation.

Among those upset about the possibility that Bethany Lutheran could drop Inclusa residents is Lynn Maher of Onalaska, whose mother, 91-year-old Lois Krueger, has lived at Eagle Crest South at 622 Bennora Lee Court in La Crosse for almost three years.

"She was one of the original tenants, and she loves it," Maher said Monday. "She is in memory care, and she really needs a place that can watch over her."

Krueger originally was paying her own way but needed to switch to Inclusa when her funds ran out, Maher said.

Maher said she moved her mom from Appleton and chose Eagle Crest under a contract she insisted stipulated that she couldn't be evicted. When she checked the contract Monday, that page was missing, which "I can't believe is an accident," she said.

"I am so angry because any other place she would have had enough money to live until she was 112," Maher said.

Her mother's costs at Eagle Crest are $4,900 a month, compared with as little as $1,800 elsewhere, she said.

The problem for her mother and others now is that there are no alternatives available, especially with 70 people searching for housing, Maher said.

"It's frightening for my mom, because she might have to go far away," she said.

Frank Mauss of La Crosse, whose mother-in-law, Lee Wilcox, moved from California about 18 months ago to Bethany on Cass to be close to him and his wife, Sharon Lukert, expressed frustration, too.

"We have been searching but can't connect because (facilities) take only a limited number of Inclusa" members, he said. Many don't even have waiting lists, because "there are so many full-paying, self-supporting" residents.

"What are all of these 70 people going to do?" Mauss asked.

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