CWAG Legislative Successes

• CWAG responded to the grassroots concerns of prescription drug prices by winning the passage of a state prescription drug assistance plan for seniors--SeniorCare. However, seeing that not all needs were met by this legislation, CWAG instated their own prescription drug program to guarantee the needs of their members were met.
• CWAG fought for and won passage of a reform plan for the state's long term care system--Family Care. Now in the piloting phase, Family Care will make home and community based long term care services more accessible to older people and people with disabilities
• CWAG has advocated over the years for increased funding for the Community Options Program (COP) which provides long term care services to help people remain in their own homes as an alternative to nursing home care
• CWAG fought to increase the state's Elderly and Disabled Transportation budget which provides specialized transportation services to older people and people with disabilities
• CWAG worked to improve Wisconsin’s supplement to the federal Supplemental Security Program (SSI) providing financial security for low-income, blind and disabled people
• CWAG won increased state funding for Guardianship services
• CWAG fought for and won improvements in Spousal Impoverishment legislation that protects the income and assets of the spouse at home when the other spouse is in a nursing home
• CWAG won increases in state funding for the Wisconsin Elderly Nutrition Program
• CWAG has helped obtain funding for the Wisconsin Ombudsman Program that investigates complaints from people in long term care
• CWAG worked for initial passage and subsequent improvements in Wisconsin's Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will
• CWAG worked for and won expansion of the Homestead Tax Credit and Property Tax Deferral Loan programs providing property tax relief to low-income older people
• CWAG initiated legislation and won increased funding to provide services to the victims of elder abuse and has obtained funding to provide special attention to the problem of financial elder abuse
• CWAG Initiated legislation to increase state funding for the Benefit Specialist/Legal Services Program providing paralegal services with attorney supervision, in every Wisconsin county and tribe to assist the elderly in accessing public benefits
• CWAG initiated legislation and won increased funding for people with Alzheimer’s Disease and startup funding for the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute.
• CWAG won passage of legislation to allow the federal Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program (HECM) to operate in Wisconsin
• CWAG instigated and won passage of the Wisconsin Elder’s Act which strengthens the state’s commitment to funding and maintaining programs and services for older people
• CWAG fought for and won passage of legislation prohibiting age discrimination in Wisconsin
• CWAG developed and worked to expand PartnerCare—a Medicare Assignment program
• CWAG obtained federal funding to begin Family Friends,  an intergenerational program - matching older volunteers with families of children with special needs
• CWAG built the Intergenerational Center that provides office space and meeting facilities for many nonprofit and public agencies
• CWAG provides space and staff assistance for the Wisconsin Intergenerational Network (WIN)
• CWAG obtained federal funding to develop the Medicare Integrity Program