On February 20, the state Assembly approved Assembly Bill 736 – a bill creating a state Palliative Care Council – by voice vote. Prior to that, the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care voted unanimously (16-0) to recommend approval of this legislation. WiHPCA worked closely with the authors of this legislation, state Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Wausau) and state Sen. Jesse James (R-Eau Claire Area), in the drafting of this bill. WiHPCA is grateful to Rep. Snyder and Sen. James for their tireless efforts on this legislation. In fact, you may watch a brief video (3 minutes, 40 seconds) of Rep. Snyder discussing this bill on the floor of the state Assembly.
The state Palliative Care Council created by this bill would advise the state Department of Health Services (DHS) and provide recurring reports to the Legislature. More specifically, the proposed palliative care council would work with DHS on analyzing existing palliative care programs, as well as identifying ways in which health care providers could improve the quality of life for patients throughout our state. This council would not only improve awareness of palliative care – a type of care that is often misunderstood – but will ultimately help with increasing access to this specialized type of care.
Once AB736 passed the Assembly, it was referred to the Senate. Specifically, it was referred to the Senate Committee on Government Operations. This committee held a hearing on the Senate companion version of this bill – Senate Bill 703 – on February 1. Unfortunately, however, this bill faced some political obstacles. Committee Chairman/Senator Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) indicated after the February 1 hearing that he did not plan on voting this legislation out of his committee.
In response to this obstacle, WiHPCA’s government relations representatives aggressively lobbied Senate leadership to attempt to bring this bill to a vote before the full Senate. In support of that effort, WiHPCA sent out an Action Alert to all WiHPCA member agencies, as well as a separate Action Alert to all WiHPCA member agency volunteers, requesting individuals to contact their respective state senators to ask them to contact Senator Stroebel to vote the bill out of his committee. We greatly appreciate the efforts of WiHPCA member agency staff, as well as volunteers, in advocating for the Senate passage of this legislation! Unfortunately, however, this bill ultimately did not pass the state Senate before it adjourned for the 2023-2024 legislative session in mid-March.
In addition, we would like to share that Wisconsin Public Radio interviewed WiHPCA board chair Lynne Sexten – the President and CEO of Agrace Hospice and Palliative Care – regarding the palliative care council bill during the March 4 edition of WPR’s Morning Show. The audio of this interview may be heard here (you will need to scroll down the page slightly to find the “Listen” button for this topic).
