With less than one month until the primary election, Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez announced on Friday, July 17, that she was ending her campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor. This followed a very challenging week for her campaign, during which she discovered that her campaign’s financial reports included a very significant number of errors. These errors resulted in her campaign account having a significantly lower balance than originally reported. In response, she fired her campaign manager.

On July 15, candidates for the Office of Wisconsin Governor were required to report campaign finance data – including all contributions – from January 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026. The following campaign finance data from this time frame addresses the current candidates for governor, as of July 17:

Former Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes (D)

• Raised $840,000
• Spent $1.1 million
• Had $240,000 cash on hand as of June 30

State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison)

• Raised $709,000
• Spent $433,000
• Had $411,000 cash on hand as of June 30

Former Evers Administration Official Joel Brennan (D)

• Raised $666,000
• Spent $858,000
• Had $360,000 cash on hand as of June 30

State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison)

• Raised $527,000
• Spent $454,000
• Had $406,000 cash on hand as of June 30

Congressman Tom Tiffany (R-Minocqua)

• Raised $8.72 million
• Spent $6.4 million
• Had $3 million cash on hand as of June 30

In the June edition of the WiAHC Madison update, it was noted that state legislative leaders created the Legislative Council Study Committee on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care. In July, the following committee members were announced:

• Chair/State Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton)
• Vice Chair/State Rep. Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee)
• State Sen. Sara Keyeski (D-Lodi)
• State Rep. Mike Bare (D-Verona)
• Polly Anderson, RN, Senior Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh School of Nursing
• Phillip Blair; Vice President of Human Resources; Gamber-Johnson, LLC; Stevens Point
• Dr. Justin Boge, Chief Medical Officer, Incubation Studio, La Crosse
• Glenn Martin Fung, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, Abbott Cancer Diagnostics, Madison
• Matthew Harris, Chief Digital Information Officer, Rogers Behavioral Health, Oconomowoc
• David Hoffert, Director of Artificial Intelligence Policy, Epic Systems, Verona
• Dr. Mark Huth, President & CEO, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, Madison
• Frank Liao, Senior Director, Digital Health & Emerging Technologies, UW Health, Madison
• Krister Mattson, Vice President, Enterprise Analytics & Data Science, Emplify Health, Onalaska
• Madeline Nevermann, Artificial Intelligence Technology Director, Elevance Health Insurance, Milwaukee
• Julie Pawola, Clinical Informatics Pharmacist, UW Health, Middleton
• Erin Skold, Legal Counsel, Mayo Clinic, Eau Claire

This committee will likely hold its first meeting in the coming months in Madison and Hoven Consulting will monitor committee activities.

The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) – the state’s occupational credentialing agency – recently announced several upgrades to serve customers. Specifically, they have implemented interactive voice routing on their customer service phone line, which will allow callers to select different options based on their needs. This will help free up DSPS staff – which are limited in number due to budget constraints – to assist callers with complex questions. In addition, their customer service phone line will also inform callers what place “in line” they are in to speak with a DSPS representative. In the future, DSPS will also implement an artificial intelligence pilot project, which will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is intended to answer common questions from callers.

In early July, Forward Analytics – a Wisconsin-based non-partisan research organization that is a division of the Wisconsin Counties Association – released a report that found that, for the first time, the health care and social assistance industry is now the state’s largest employer. Previously, the manufacturing industry was Wisconsin’s largest employer. In particular, the report found that health care and social assistance positions increased from 321,000 to over 463,000 between 2001 and 2025. During that same time period, manufacturing positions declined from 560,000 to less than 460,000.

To read the summary of the report, as well as the report itself, go to the Forward Analytics website.

According to state law, each July 1, the state Department of Health Services (DHS) is required to adjust the amounts that health care providers may charge for patient health care records to account for inflation during the prior calendar year. The following are the updated amounts:

Paper Copies (per page)

August Grant Deadline for Most Opportunities

On June 16, DHS opened the application period for three Rural Health Transformation Program grants, which will address efforts related to (1) care coordination, (2) community health workers, and (3) rural dental efficiency and access. The agency noted that it will award a combined $40 million in grants for these three areas of focus.

The following summaries of these three areas are from the agency’s announcement:

• Care coordination – applications due August 21, 2026: These grants support new and innovative partnership models that coordinate care across systems and sectors in rural Wisconsin. These grants will address fragmented systems of care and barriers to access care. DHS plans to award up to $10 million in 2026 for a 6-month planning period. Awardees will then be invited to submit a full application for a 4-year program period. The full grant opportunity will be released to planning grant recipients in February 2027, with an estimated $25 million available in the first year pending CMS approval.

• Community health worker – applications due August 7, 2026: These grants support expanded integration and sustainability of community health workers as an evidence-based care model to improve health outcomes in Wisconsin’s rural communities. These grants will increase the quality and number of community health workers in the workforce in rural areas, enhance programs through training and technical assistance, and support strong infrastructure and connections between providers and communities. DHS plans to award $20 million for the first year of funding. Letters of intent are recommended but not required. Letters of intent are due July 1, 2026.

• Rural dental efficiency and access – applications due July 27, 2026: These grants support dental clinics in adopting technologies that improve efficiency and increase access to care in rural and semi-rural communities. These technologies can help to address challenges that rural clinics face by increasing patient service volumes, improving patient comfort, and maximizing the existing dental workforce. DHS plans to award $10 million through this grant opportunity pending CMS approval.”

More information may be found on the Rural Health Transformation Program page of the DHS website.

In May, state legislative leaders approved the creation of several Legislative Council Study Committees, including a committee focused on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care. The Legislature creates study committees in each even-numbered year, once the legislative session has concluded. Each committee includes several legislators, one of whom serves as the chair, and also includes members of the general public. These committees generally hold several public hearings in Madison during which subject matter experts and members of the general public testify. The mission of these committees is to examine a particular issue and then work on drafting appropriate legislation to update and improve existing state laws on the topic.

The scope of the Study Committee on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care is as follows:

• The study committee is directed to study current and emerging uses of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in health care. As part of its review, the study committee shall consider the use of AI technology in the patient-provider relationship, including use in clinical care and communication facilitation.
• The study committee shall also consider the use of AI in interactions between insurers or medical assistance [Medicaid]programs and patients. Finally, the study committee shall consider the use of AI between insurers or medical assistance programs and providers, including in health care coverage decision making. After these reviews, the study committee shall consider recommending legislation that addresses standards for the use of AI in health care services and insurance.”

This committee will likely hold its first meeting in the coming months in Madison and Hoven Consulting will monitor committee activities.

In late May, Wisconsin DHS released its 2025 State Health Assessment. DHS releases this document every five years, which addresses general health and well-being around our state. The report found the following areas of concern:

• Economic stress, including the rising cost of living.
• Mental health, including feelings of burnout and poor access to care.
• Housing, including a lack of affordable housing.
• Transportation, including inadequate public transportation; transportation challenges in rural areas; and need for transportation options to work, health care appointments, and other necessary places.
• Health care, including high costs; poor access to care; and lack of whole-person, prevention-focused care.”

For more information about the Wisconsin State Health Plan, please visit the DHS website.  The full 2025 State Health Assessment may be viewed here.

DHS and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are organizing the Wisconsin Substance Use Summit, which will be held at the Oneida Hotel in Green Bay on August 5-6, 2026. The summit will feature two keynote speakers, as well as nearly 50 interactive workshops. Interested individuals may attend either in-person or virtually. Registration for in-person attendees closes on July 22, while registration for virtual attendees closes on August 5. For more information – and to register – please visit the DHS website.