The state Assembly held its final session day of the 2025-2026 regular legislative session on February 20, 2026, followed by the Wisconsin State Senate’s final session day on March 17, 2026. In addition, the Legislature reconvened for a special session on May 13, which is addressed in the next item below.

The following are highlights from the current biennial budget law, as well as other relevant legislation introduced during the 2025-2026 legislative session. In particular, WiAHC’s budget advocacy was successful in securing a Medicaid rate increase for home health skilled nursing services from $96.96 per home visit to $117.86 per home visit – additional details are noted below.

Fiscal Year 2025-2027 Biennial Budget Law

• Medicaid Cost-to-Continue: The budget agreement also fully funds the state’s Medicaid program – this is known as “Medicaid cost-to-continue.” This funding incorporates enough funding to pay for the increased costs of providing services and also takes into account changing Medicaid enrollment projections.
• o   In FY2025-2026, $1.529 billion is provided and in FY2026-2027, $2.279 billion is provided.

• Hospital Assessment:At present, Wisconsin hospitals pay 1.8% of their net patient revenue to the state Department of Health Services (DHS) – this is known as the “hospital assessment.” This budget agreement increases this percentage to 6%.
• o   30% of these funds will be held in the Medical Assistance Trust Fund, which helps pay for the state’s Medicaid program.
• o   The rest of this funding will be used to make hospital provider payments, resulting in over $1.1 billion in funding to go to Wisconsin hospitals.

• Home Health Skilled Nursing Medicaid Rate Increase: Provide $294,300 in FY2025-2026 and $588,600 in FY2026-2027 to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for home visits performed by LPNs/RNs employed by home health agencies, effective January 1, 2026.
• o   NOTE: With this funding request, WiAHC intends to increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate from $96.96 per home visit to approximately $117.86 per home visit, which is 70 percent of the Medicare home health reimbursement rate. Please note that per the funding levels provided above, it appears that this requested rate increase will be fully implemented in the second year of the budget – in FY2026-2027.
• Private Duty Nursing Medicaid Rate Increase: Provide $4.7 million in FY2025-2026 and $9.59 million in FY2026-2027 to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for private duty nursing services provided by RNs and LPNs (excluding PDN services provided by independent practice RNs and LPNs), effective January 1, 2026.
• Personal Care Medicaid Rate Increase: Provide $6.3 million in FY2025-2026 and $12.7 million in FY2026-2027.
• WisCaregiver Careers: Provide $2 million in FY2025-2026 to increase funding for this program, which aims to increase the number of certified nurse aides (CNAs) and certified direct care professionals (CDCPs) in the state.
• Free and Charitable Clinics:Increase funding for free and charitable clinics by $1.5 million between FY2025-2027.

• Health Care Provider Training Grants: Provide $1 million in FY2025-2026 to increase funding for the allied health professional education training program.

2025-2026 Lobbying Registrations - Highlights

• Support – Senate Bill 832 – Signed by Governor Evers:  Allows pharmacies to be operated as a remotely supervised pharmacy, provided the licensed pharmacist complies with the Pharmacy Examining Board’s rules. Governor Evers signed this bill on April 2, 2026.

• Support – Assembly Bill 432/Senate Bill 434:  Requires insurance companies to make prior authorization decisions for patient care services within 72 hours for standard requests and 24 hours for urgent requests. The Senate Committee on Insurance held a hearing on October 29, 2025. No further action was taken on this legislation during the 2025-2026 legislative session.

• Undisclosed – Assembly Bill 368/Senate Bill 373:  Places limitations on insurance companies when requiring prior authorization for patient care with respect to physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and chiropractic services. In particular, insurers would be prohibited from requiring prior authorization for the first 12 patient visits for the health care services listed above. When registering a formal position on this bill, WiAHC included the following statement: “WiAHC supports reducing physical, occupational and speech therapy prior authorization requirements. WiAHC also supports reducing prior authorization requirements for skilled nursing home health care. However, this bill does not accomplish that.” Both the Assembly and Senate committees of jurisdiction voted to advance the respective versions of this legislation. However, the Legislature did not take any further action on this legislation prior to the end of the 2025-2026 legislative session.
• Support – Assembly Bill 23/Senate Bill 39:  Creates a state Palliative Care Council, which would be “housed” at the state Department of Health Services (DHS).  The intent behind this proposed council would be to increase awareness of palliative care, which is often misunderstood by the public. Despite extensive and vigorous advocacy efforts, the Assembly-passed bill (AB23) failed to pass the Republican-controlled state Senate prior to the end of the 2025-2026 legislative session. However, thanks to the advocacy of WiAHC members and other stakeholders, this legislation advanced farther than it has during any prior legislative session. Specifically, the Assembly voted 96-1 to approve the bill and the Senate Health Committee voted 5-0 to advance the bill to the full Senate.

• Support – Senate Bill 214/Assembly Bill 212 – Vetoed by Governor Evers:  Allows an individual who possesses an occupational credential in another state to provide health care services via telehealth to Wisconsin patients if the individual registers with the appropriate Wisconsin occupational credentialing board.  Governor Evers vetoed Senate Bill 214 on March 20, 2026.

Updating Department of Health Services Regulations

• Professional Advisory Bodies:  WiAHC successfully advocated the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to remove outdated state regulations related to professional advisory bodies for home health agencies. At WiAHC’s request, DHS included a provision removing home health care agency professional advisory bodies in a large regulatory package of technical changes and updates to state health regulations.

• o   Based on a WiAHC member survey, WiAHC submitted written economic impact comments to the Department of Health Services regarding the positive economic impact of removing these outdated state regulations would have on home health agencies. In addition, a WiAHC government relations representative testified at a DHS public hearing – as well as submitted written testimony – in support of removing home health care professional advisory bodies from state regulations.
• o   Due to WIAHC’s advocacy on this issue, DHS finalized this package of regulatory changes, which included removing the requirement for home health agencies to establish and maintain professional advisory bodies. Final regulatory language may be viewed here(the specific provision of interest is on page 47 of the PDF). This finalized rule took effect on March 1, 2026.

Major Political and Budget Dates

• April 15, 2026:Candidates for state office may begin seeking constituent signatures on their nomination papers to appear on the election ballot.
• May 22, 2026:Incumbent elected officials who will not run for re-election in 2026 submit a notice of non-candidacy to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
• June 1, 2026:Candidates for state office submit their nomination papers to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
• August 11, 2026:Partisan primary election
• September 15, 2026:State executive branch agencies submit FY2027-2029 budget requests to the Governor.
• November 3, 2026:General election.
• January 7, 2027:Inauguration and beginning of the 2027-2028 legislative session.