Over the last year, WiAHC’s legislative committee and government affairs team have been refining a critical legislative proposal to make modest but impactful changes to DHS 133, the administrative rule chapter regulating home health agencies. The bill, which will be introduced by Senator Joan Ballweg (R-Markesan) and Representative Donna Rozar (R-Marshfield), is currently being circulated co-sponsorship, which gives other lawmakers an opportunity to co-sign the bill.

The impetus for the changes began as an effort to bring Wisconsin’s administrative rules in line with the federal government’s elimination of requirements for professional advisory bodies. A working group made up of members of WiAHC’s legislative committee identified additional changes to make permanent following emergency regulatory allowances during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal includes the following provisions:

Updates to Match Federal Code

• Eliminate DHS 133.05 (2) regarding Professional Advisory Bodies in its entirety.
• • LRB-5046 and LRB-2570 brings Wisconsin in line with recent federal updates to eliminate the Professional Advisory Body but maintain the Governing Body.
  • Current administrative rule requires each home health agency to establish a Professional Advisory Body, which is required to annually review and make recommendations concerning an agency’s operations.
  • Home health agencies also have a Governing Body, as required in DHS 133.05 (1), which governs operations.
  • Professional Advisory Bodies are redundant and unnecessary, which is why there were eliminated at the federal level.

• Allow for 120 hours to develop a plan of care under DHS 133.20 (1)
• • LRB-5046 and LRB-2570 allows Wisconsin’s home health agencies to streamline the administrative work needed for home health agencies to admit new patients by adhering to one timeline of 120 hours.
  • Federal law allows 120 hours for home health agencies to develop a plan of care for agencies to meet additional federal admittance requirements.
  • State rules require agencies to develop plans of care in 72 hours.
  • 120 hours provides home health agencies and other health care providers necessary time to develop comprehensive plans of care.

Maintain regulatory allowance made for COVID-19

• Allow supervisory visits required under DHS 133.18 to be done in person or via telehealth.
• • LRB-5046 and LRB-2570 allows supervisory to continue to be provided in person or by telehealth, as first allowed by DHS during the pandemic.
  • Supervisory visits are required no less than every two weeks during a patient’s term of care to ensure a plan of care being properly administered.
  • Registered nurses are able to perform more supervisory visits in a day by cutting down on travel time between homes. This is especially helpful in rural areas.
  • Supervisory visits are not the same as routine plan of care visits, which are provided in person. LRB-5046 and LRB-2570 does not change that.

As mentioned above, the bill is currently being circulated for co-sponsorship. The more co-sponsors on a bill, the better chance it may have to make it to the governor’s desk. Click here to find out how you can contact your legislators to encourage them to co-sponsor this important legislation.