On January 22, the Senate Committee on Insurance voted unanimously to advance Senate Bill 373, which places limits on insurance companies requiring prior authorization for certain services. Specifically, the bill allows 12 patient visits for physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and chiropractic services – without requiring prior authorization. In addition, it limits the timeframe for subsequent insurance reauthorization to three business days.

As home health agencies provide physical, occupational, and speech therapy to patients, this bill would have a positive impact on agencies and their patients, if it is enacted. During this committee’s hearing on this legislation last October, WiAHC submitted testimony noting our organization’s appreciation for this legislation. However, the testimony also requested that the legislation’s authors add home-based skilled nursing care to this legislation. In addition, WiAHC’s Madison lobbyists advocated for this addition to the bill. Unfortunately, however, the bill’s authors declined to amend their legislation to make this inclusion.

On February 12, the state Assembly unanimously passed Assembly Bill 910, which would put in place a process for each state government agency to review the fees and fines under their respective purview and recommend any updates to the Legislature. Numerous such fees and fines have not been updated in 20, 30, or 40 or more years. It’s also worth noting that fees addressed by this bill include occupational credentialing fees, which are mostly assessed by the state Department of Safety and Professional Services.

In particular, the bill would require each state government agency to undertake a fee and fine review every six years. As a result of this review, each agency would make recommendations to the Legislature to consider updating fees and fines to take into account inflation. However, under the bill, an agency is allowed to recommend no changes to a particular fee or fine. If an agency does recommend an increase to a particular fee or fine, they may recommend implementing it over four years to minimize impact on affected parties.

This bill will now be sent to the state Senate for its consideration.

In late January, the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Committee on Finance released funding to the state Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) intended to improve occupational credential processing efficiencies. In particular, the committee released $1.8 million to DSPS to update customer call center software, implement a 24-hour “AI-agent chat” pilot program intended to answer most “how to” questions, and add six contract staff members to implement these upgrades and to provide customer assistance.

In January, the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) announced a projection that the state government will have a $2.5 billion surplus at the end of the current Fiscal Year 2025-2027 budget timeframe. This projected amount is $1.5 billion more than previously projected. Most of that increase is due to nearly $1.4 billion in increased state tax collections. LFB’s analysis for this higher-than-expected surplus is due to growth in the 2025 gross domestic product due to a lower rate of inflation. LFB also indicated that a lower-than-expected tariff rate also played a role.

At the end of January, President Donald Trump endorsed Congressman Tom Tiffany (R-Minocqua) in his campaign for governor. Shortly after, Republican gubernatorial candidate Josh Schoemann – who serves as Washington County Executive – ended his campaign. As such, Congressman Tiffany is the sole major candidate running for the Republican nomination for governor.

Also in January, state Senator Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) announced that he would not run for re-election this year. After that announcement, physical therapist and business owner Mike Roberts (R-Pewaukee) announced his candidacy for this seat. State Representative Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) had previously announced her candidacy for this state Senate seat. This is viewed as perhaps the most competitive state Senate election in 2026.

On February 2, state Senator Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) announced that he will not run for re-election this year. Senator Nass started his service in the Legislature in 1991, as a member of the state Assembly. Following that announcement, former state Representative Ellen Schutt (R-Clinton) announced her candidacy for this state Senate seat.

The Wisconsin Association for Home Healthcare is excited to introduce our 2026 Board of Directors!

These leaders bring valuable experience in home health care and share a strong commitment to advancing high-quality, patient-centered care across Wisconsin.

Please join us in welcoming:

• Christa Walz, MA, PT (Chair), Executive Director, Adoray Home Health & Hospice
• Vicki Meyer, CPA (Vice Chair), Senior Vice President and CFO, Horizon Home Care and Hospice
• Nicole Naidl (Secretary/Treasurer), Manager of Operations, Froedtert Holy Family Memorial Home Health & Hospice
• Jayne Thill, MSN, BSN, RN III, COQS (Immediate Past-Chair), Regional Quality Director, Ascension At Home Together with Compassus
• Tina Kimps (Regional Representative), Area Vice President, Advocate Aurora at Home
• Nicole Ruh (Regional Representative), RN HHC/Hospice Supervisor, Calumet County
• Michelle Esser (Regional Representative), Director, Upland Hills Health Home Care & Hospice
• Lindsey Howard (At-Large Director), Regional Director of Government Affairs, Maxim Healthcare Services
• Amy Driscoll (At-Large Director), Director of Training and Education, Advocate Aurora at Home
• Audra Dennis (At-Large Director), RN, BSN, COS-C, Home Health Director of Clinical Operations, Ascension At Home Together with Compassus

We’re grateful for their willingness to serve and look forward to the insight and leadership they’ll bring as we continue advocating for home and community-based care throughout the state.

On January 2, 2026, Governor Tony Evers announced that he will deliver his 2026 State of the State address in the Assembly Chamber of the Wisconsin State Capitol on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at 7:00PM (Central Time). As he is not running for re-election in 2026, this will be his final State of the State speech. His speech may be viewed live online on the WisconsinEye website, the Governor’s YouTube channel, as well as his Facebook page.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

Please email or call your state senator by tomorrow, Feb 13, 2026 and urge him or her to ask Senate leadership to schedule a vote on the Palliative Care Council legislation (Assembly Bill 23/Senate Bill 39) in order to improve awareness of this specialized type of care, address the shortage of palliative care providers, and increase access to this type of care. Ultimately, the intent is to better support patients living with life-limiting illnesses. An  email template can be found HERE.

As many home health agencies also provide palliative care, the Wisconsin Association for Home Health Care (WiAHC) supports passage of Senate Bill 39/Assembly Bill 23, which would create a state Palliative Care Council to advise the state Department of Health Services (DHS) and the state Legislature on key issues impacting palliative care and the patients and their families that depend on this type of care.

We are very close to passing this bill and need your expertise and passion to get the bill scheduled for a vote in the Wisconsin State Senate.

What You Already Know

• Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a serious illness such as cancer, heart failure, kidney failure, and advanced neurologic disorders, among others. This type of care is focused on providing relief from both the symptoms and stress of serious illness with the goal of improving quality of life for both the patient and their family.

• Palliative care is based on the needs of the patient, not on the patient’s prognosis. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage for a serious illness, and it can be provided along with curative treatment.

Why Create a Palliative Care Council?

• This council would analyze existing palliative care programs in our state, as well as identify ways in which health care providers could improve the quality of life for patients throughout Wisconsin. This council will help improve awareness of palliative care – which is often misunderstood, even in the field of health care – address the shortage of palliative care providers and increase access to this valuable type of care.

Additional Benefits of Palliative Care

Palliative Care Saves Costs

• Research has demonstrated that patients in hospital systems with palliative care programs experienced reduced emergency department visits, fewer days in intensive care, and fewer hospital re-admissions after discharge.

• According to a summary of palliative care studies prepared by the American Cancer Society:
• According to a 2020 study, hospital patients who received a quick palliative care referral had median hospital charges that were $56,700 less than other patients.
• A 2022 study found that palliative care provided to adult patients at home decreased their medical costs by 16.7%.
• Hospital patients with cancer who received a palliative care consultation within two days of admission experienced up to 32% lower health care costs, according to a 2016 study.

Status of the bill

• The state Assembly voted overwhelmingly (96-1) in May to pass Assembly Bill 23, which has now been referred to the Senate. On March 14, the Senate Health Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to send this bill to the full Senate.

As you can see, this legislation has overwhelming support in the Legislature. We need your help to get this bill over the finish line! Specifically, we need WiAHC home health agency staff members to contact their respective state senators to ask for their support to bring this legislation to a vote in the full state Senate.

Don’t know who your state senator is? Just click here and type your home address in the “Enter address” field at the top of the screen to find that out, as well as the appropriate office phone number and email address.

Please use WiAHC’s sample e-mail when contacting your state senator. This will only take you a few minutes. Simply cut-and-paste it into an email and send it off. You are also welcome to customize it based on your experience with palliative care. [If you do so, please be sure that any anecdotes/information you share is HIPAA-compliant.] If you prefer to call your state senator’s office, you could use the sample e-mail as a script.

If you have any questions, please contact the WiAHC Government Affairs Team at tim@hovenconsulting.com or nathan@hovenconsulting.com.

Thank you for your advocacy!

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) recently issued a notice that, as of January 1, 2026, it has implemented a change to the Medicaid rate for home health care services delivered by licensed practical nurses or registered nurses employed by home health agencies.

As you will recall, WiAHC – with your help as a WiAHC member – advocated and secured this rate increase in the FY2025-2027 state budget. Specifically, this will 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, for home health services provided on or after January 1, 2026.

On December 30, 2025, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announced that it received $203 million in Rural Health Transformation Fund grant funding from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This award represents the first of five years of such awards from CMS to benefit rural health care in Wisconsin. According to the DHS press release, these dollars will go towards the following initiatives:

·        “Grants for innovative workforce projects in rural communities, support career pathways for rural health care providers, and fund services provided by community health workers.

·        Upgrades for rural provider systems, digital infrastructure, and develop a digital rural health care collaborative.

·        A competitive grant program for rural regions to create coordinated systems of care where multi-sector partnerships show a clear path to sustainability.”