On June 10, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford announced her candidacy for the State Supreme Court seat that will be vacated next year by veteran Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who is a member of the liberal court majority.  Prior to serving on the Dane County Circuit Court, Judge Crawford worked as an assistant attorney general in the state Department of Justice.  In addition, she served in the state Department of Corrections and the state Department of Natural Resources, as well as then-Governor Jim Doyle’s chief legal counsel.  She also worked as an attorney in private practice. 

As this is written, former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel – who currently serves as a judge in Waukesha County – is the only other candidate who has announced a run for Justice Walsh Bradley’s seat on the State Supreme Court.  If additional candidates enter the race, a primary election will be held on February 18, 2025.  The general election will occur on April 1, 2025. 

The 2023-24 legislative has come to an end, and legislators have shifted their focus to the upcoming election season and the need to connect with voters. With that in mind, it is more important than ever for WiAHC members to strengthen their relationships with their state lawmakers (and new legislative candidates) to educate them on the value of skilled home health care, the regulatory challenges we face, and the legislative solutions we need to increase access to care for patients. Rember, decisions state legislators make in the Capitol can have a significant impact on the home health care industry, your organization, and your profession.

One of the best ways you as a WiAHC member can engage your local legislators is to invite them to tour your facilities to illustrate firsthand the many benefits of home health care. These visits provide a tremendous advocacy opportunity, which is why WiAHC members across the state have already hosted numerous successful legislative tours. But we need to maintain the enthusiasm for this critical grassroots advocacy program, and WiAHC is excited and ready to set-up additional tours today.  

If you would like to host a legislative tour at your site, please contact the WiAHC office at wiahc@badgerbay.co. We will work with you and your legislators to coordinate the meetings and will provide participating members with full support, including legislator bios, advocacy tips, issue briefings, and supporting documents.  

Now that the Legislature has adjourned their legislative session, the 2024 election cycle is in full campaign mode. Wisconsin’s state legislative and congressional district maps were finalized earlier this spring, which will create several very competitive races for control of the Wisconsin legislature. This, coupled with Milwaukee hosting the Republican National Convention in July and Wisconsin’s status as a key battleground state in the Presidential election and control of the U.S. Senate, will make for a very interesting 2024 election year. 

State Legislative Elections

Both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature currently have large Republican majorities (Assembly – 64-35; Senate 22 to 10 with 1 vacancy in a heavily Democratic district in Milwaukee). All 99 Assembly seats are up for election.  In the Senate, 16 of 33 seats are up – eight of these seats feature GOP incumbents and four of them are open seats. 

The current political wisdom is that Assembly Republicans are in position to maintain control following the 2024 election due to the number of Republican seats that are viewed as safe or strong for the GOP, in addition to the high number of GOP incumbents.  However, due to 2024 redistricting, the number of highly competitive seats has increased under the new district maps.  As such, it is possible that Assembly Republicans may lose a small number of seats, but not enough to lose the majority. 

Likewise, it is expected Senate Republicans will also maintain control of that body in 2024.  However, the GOP may also lose seats in this chamber due to the increase of competitive seats because of 2024 redistricting.  To take control of this chamber, 13 Democratic candidates would have to win Senate seats in November, which is unlikely.

To read the more detailed memo regarding the 2024 election, please click here.

In the coming months, WiAHC will send a legislative priority survey to all members.  This will help WiAHC leadership determine the policy priorities for the 2025-2026 state legislative session.  Please consider completing the survey once you receive it.  This will be a great opportunity to share your thoughts on the direction that WiAHC should take with respect to advocacy. 

In recent weeks, the Governor’s Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce launched its new website, which includes the following:

• An overview of the mission of the task force.
• A list of names and titles of the task force members.
• Schedule of future task force public meetings.
• Information related to prior meetings, including agendas and presentations.

In mid-May, the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) announced the Accelerate Wisconsin initiative.  The intent behind this initiative is to streamline the occupational licensure process for recent nursing school graduates, so that they can begin practicing more quickly after graduation. Nursing students at participating schools will now be able to take the required NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) national nursing exam before they graduate.  Once certification of a nurse’s graduation has been provided to DSPS, the nurse will receive their occupational license from DSPS within three business days.  Furthermore, to assist employers with their hiring process, DSPS will provide nursing students who meet all criteria except graduation with a letter reflecting this.

The following nursing schools are participating in this program:

• Alverno College
• Carroll University
• Carthage College
• Chippewa Valley Technical College
• Edgewood College
• Gateway Technical College
• Madison College
• Marian University
• Marquette University
• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
• Viterbo University

As a requirement of the Diabetes Care and Prevention Action Program Act, which was enacted during the 2019-2020 state legislative session, the state Department of Health Services (DHS) recently submitted a report to the Legislature that includes recommendations to help “reduce the number of new cases of diabetes, improve diabetes care, and manage diabetes-associated complications.”  More specifically, the report makes the following specific recommendations:

·        Reduce patient cost-sharing of diabetes self-management education and support services (DSMES), devices, supplies, and medicines.

·        Increase pricing and insurance coverage transparency for all diabetes medications throughout the supply chain.

·        Improve access for personal continuous glucose monitoring.

·        Reimburse DSMES delivered by all professional support providers, including pharmacists, registered nurses, registered dietitian nutritionists, and certified diabetes care and education specialists.

·        Reimburse for DSMES delivered via telehealth.

·        Require Wisconsin health insurers to maintain at least one non-insulin drug in every diabetes drug class available on-formulary.

·        Reimburse community health workers who provide chronic disease management and care coordination services.

On May 14, Governor Evers called for special elections for the following positions:

• 4^th State Senate District

This heavily Democratic district in the City of Milwaukee is vacant as former State Senator Lena Taylor (D) was appointed to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. This special primary election will occur, if needed, on July 2, 2024.  The special general election will occur on July 30, 2024.  It’s important to note that the winner of this special general election will hold this seat through the end of the term, which ends on January 5, 2025.  The 4^th State Senate District will also be up for election during the normal August primary and November general elections this year.  The winner of that general election will take office for a full four-year term on January 6, 2025 (state legislative inauguration day).

• 8^th Congressional District

This Republican-leaning district, which includes the Fox Valley and the Green Bay area, became vacant when former Congressman Mike Gallagher (R) resigned. The special primary election and special general election will occur on the same dates as the normal primary and general elections (August 13 and November 5 of this year) for this seat.  Therefore, the winner of the special general election would take office immediately after the November 5 election and hold the seat until January 3, 2025 (Congressional inauguration day).  The winner of the normal general election (also on November 5) will take office on January 3, 2025.

The 2023-24 legislative has come to an end, and legislators have shifted their focus to the upcoming election season and the need to connect with voters. With that in mind, it is more important than ever for WiAHC members to strengthen their relationships with their state lawmakers (and new legislative candidates) to educate them on the value of skilled home health care, the regulatory challenges we face, and the legislative solutions we need to increase access to care for patients. Rember, decisions state legislators make in the Capitol can have a significant impact on the home health care industry, your organization, and your profession.

One of the best ways you as a WiAHC member can engage your local legislators is to invite them to tour your facilities to illustrate firsthand the many benefits of home health care. These visits provide a tremendous advocacy opportunity, which is why WiAHC members across the state have already hosted numerous successful legislative tours. But we need to maintain the enthusiasm for this critical grassroots advocacy program, and WiAHC is excited and ready to set-up additional tours today.  

If you would like to host a legislative tour at your site, please contact the WiAHC office at wiahc@badgerbay.co. We will work with you and your legislators to coordinate the meetings and will provide participating members with full support, including legislator bios, advocacy tips, issue briefings, and supporting documents.  

Over the last few weeks, Governor Evers acted on numerous bills, including the following legislation of interest to WiAHC:

• Signed – Senate Bill 964 - Allows physical therapists to certify to the state Department of Transportation that a person has a disability that limits or impairs the ability to walk and therefore meets the criteria to receive a disabled parking license plate or card. The Governor signed this bill on March 22, and the bill will take effect 10 months after it is signed into law.

• Vetoed - Senate Bill 158 – Proposed creating a preliminary health care credential that is available to individuals who have completed the requirements for the corresponding permanent or training health care credential while they await a decision from the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) regarding their application for the permanent or training credential. The Governor vetoed this bill on March 29, issuing the following statement in his veto message:

 “I am vetoing this bill because I object to potentially reducing patient protections from individuals who have a disqualifying criminal background by allowing unlicensed individuals to receive preliminary healthcare credentials based solely upon their own attestations and employer-conducted background checks. The department would have no way to discern the veracity of an employer-conducted background check and no ability to hold employers accountable for false or neglectful attestations.”