WiHPCA News

Last night, the Senate concluded votes on both a House republican CR and a Democratic CR, with both votes failing. With no path forward, the federal government shut down at midnight last night. This means that, among other things, telehealth flexibilities that were set to expire on September 30 are no longer in effect. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also released a contingency plan outlining its operations during the government shutdown.  More updates will be shared as available.  Alliance members are able to view the Alliance Daily Article for more information about the impacts of a government shutdown.

Now that the state Assembly has overwhelmingly approved legislation creating a state palliative care council (Assembly Bill 23) and the state Senate Health Committee has unanimously approved the Senate version of this bill (Senate Bill 39), WiHPCA’s lobbyists continue to aggressively work to move this bill forward in the state Senate. As such, our organization’s lobbyists continue to meet with various senators, as well as their staff members in furtherance of that goal.

WiHPCA has also crafted a coalition letter supporting this legislation that is addressed to all state Senate offices. This letter will have been sent by the time you read this.

We need your help! Recently, you should have received a WiHPCA Action Alert email requesting that executives and employees of WiHPCA palliative care agencies either email or call your respective state senator and ask him/her to request Senate leadership to schedule this legislation for a vote in the full Senate. If you have not already done so, please contact your state Senator – based on your residence address – and make this request. You may view this WiHPCA Action Alert here. Not sure who your state Senator is? Go to the Legislature’s interactive map website to find out.

Thank you for your advocacy!

On September 15, Governor Tony Evers (D) signed an executive order directing state government agencies to make sure that Wisconsinites are able to easily access vaccines, particularly the COVID-19 vaccine. More specifically, the executive order directs the state Department of Health Services (DHS) to “work with the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI), and any other relevant state agencies and offices to ensure vaccine access for Wisconsinites to the fullest extent of the law and available funding”. The order also requires DHS to issue a standing order to allow Wisconsinites to access the COVID-19 vaccine at pharmacies. Additionally, the executive order requires the OCI to direct health insurance companies to provide full insurance coverage – within existing regulatory authority – for this vaccine.

The governor’s full press release may be viewed here.

On September 9, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) held a press conference to announce the creation of new Speaker Task Forces to address several policy areas. During prior legislative sessions, Speaker Vos has created such task forces, which hold public hearings and meetings to examine specific policy areas with the ultimate goal of drafting related legislation. He indicated that the Assembly will likely vote on such legislation in January and February 2026.

Speaker Vos created the following Speaker Task Forces:

• Protecting Children

This task force will be chaired by Rep. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls), who will focus on online safety for children.

• Government Efficiency and Modernization

This task force will be chaired by Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk (R-Western Waukesha County). This task force will focus on:

• Replacing outdated, redundant processes with modern tools.
• Reducing administrative overhead through automation.
• Integrating systems across agencies to avoid duplicate work.
• Using data to predict demand and allocate resources more effectively.

• Elder Services

This task force will be chaired by Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Wausau), who will focus on helping seniors maintain their independence and social lives, while prioritizing physical and financial wellbeing.

• Rulemaking

This task force will be chaired by Rep. Brent Jacobson (R-Mosinee), an attorney, who will focus on oversight of state government’s regulatory process.

Following Labor Day, the state Legislature resumed its Fall session work period. In addition to state Assembly and Senate committees holding public hearings on various pieces of legislation, both chambers are able to hold session days. These are days during which each respective chamber votes on legislation. Both chambers are able to hold session days in both October and November, with additional possible session days in 2026.

On August 8, Governor Tony Evers (D) signed Senate Bill 43. This legislation allows an advanced practice nurse prescriber who is directly involved with the care of a patient to pronounce the date, time, and place of a patient’s death in order to prepare a death record. Previously, only a physician naturopathic doctor, coroner, deputy coroner, medical examiner, deputy medical examiner, physician assistant, or hospice nurse had this authority.

WiHPCA formally supported this legislation. Senate Bill 43, which is now 2025 Wisconsin Act 19, became effective on August 10, 2025.

On July 24, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) announced that he will not run for a third term as governor in 2026. His video announcement, which includes a transcript, may be viewed here.

This will be the first time since 2010 that an incumbent Wisconsin governor has not run for re-election. Tony Evers was first elected as governor in 2018 when he defeated then-Governor Scott Walker (R). He was re-elected in 2022, when he defeated Republican businessman Tim Michels. Prior to his tenure as governor, he was elected three times – in 2009, 2013, and 2017 – to the statewide position of Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction – the state K-12 education agency. Earlier in his career, he was a teacher, school principal, and school district superintendent.

The 2026 Democratic primary election for governor could be quite crowded. At this time, the following Democrats have announced their candidacy for governor: incumbent Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez and former labor union official and American Family Field beer vendor Ryan Strnad. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has publicly stated that he will take steps toward a candidacy but has not yet done so. State Senator Kelda Roys (Madison) has also indicated that she will likely enter the race. Other possible candidates include Attorney General Josh Kaul, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, former Lieutenant Governor and 2022 U.S. Senate Candidate Mandela Barnes, State Senator Chris Larson (Milwaukee), Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, and former Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler.

On the Republican side, Milwaukee-area businessman Bill Berrien and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann announced their respective candidacies for governor previously. U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany (Minocqua), 2024 Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, 2022 gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, and state Senators Patrick Testin (Stevens Point) and Mary Felzkowski (Tomahawk) have also been referenced in various media reports as possible gubernatorial candidates in 2026.

It's possible that more individuals may formally announce their candidacy for governor after Labor Day.

Following the enactment of the federal budget reconciliation bill – otherwise known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) issued a report detailing their projections on how this new federal law will impact Wisconsinites who use programs that DHS administers. The following are highlights of the agency’s analysis:

• Over the next 10 years, 276,175 Wisconsin residents will no longer receive health care insurance coverage provided under either the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Medicaid.
• The increased work requirements in this new law will likely result in 63,000 Wisconsin adults being at high risk of losing Medicaid coverage.
• This new federal law will make it more difficult to qualify for FoodShare (previously known as food stamps) benefits, as this new law imposes new work requirements to individuals up to age 65 (previously the age limit was 54). The new law also no longer exempts parents of children aged 14-17 from work requirements under this program.

A more detailed analysis is available on the DHS website.

On August 11, the state Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) – the state’s occupational credentialing agency – announced that it had published an updated fee schedule for the various occupations that it regulates. DSPS reviews all occupational credentialing fees every two years and modifies the fee amount for a specific profession based on the cost of the agency’s work to license and regulate that profession. It’s important to note that DSPS is almost entirely funded by fee-based revenue, instead of tax revenue.

According to the agency, most impacted professions – including nurses – will see their credential renewal fees increase by less than $20. The full fee schedule – which addresses renewal fees – may be viewed at the DSPS website. 

Response Requested from WiHPCA Member Agencies –Threats Against Hospice & Palliative Care Staff

In March 2022, Governor Tony Evers signed legislation into law that makes it a felony crime to intentionally cause bodily harm or threaten to cause bodily harm to an individual who works in a health care facility, a family member of such an individual, a health care provider, or a family member of such an individual.

Unfortunately, WiHPCA has heard of incidents occurring in the state, and a need for advocacy to protect our workers.  With this in mind, we request that WIHPCA member agencies complete a brief survey (link) to collect more information.

WiHPCA would greatly appreciate it if you could complete this brief survey by Monday, September 15. Please make sure that any data that you provide to WiHPCA is compliant with the federal HIPAA privacy law.