From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— A group of Dem state lawmakers who represent parts of the 3rd CD are calling for U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden to ensure Wisconsin doesn’t lose access to millions in additional hospital assessment dollars approved in the state budget.
The eight lawmakers sent a joint letter to Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, after the Legislative Fiscal Bureau in a recent revenue projection noted preliminary guidance from the Trump administration has created uncertainty over the increase Wisconsin made to its hospital assessment in the 2025-27 budget.
The move was designed to draw more matching dollars from the federal government that would then be sent back to hospitals in payments that would exceed their higher assessments. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid is currently writing federal rules addressing such moves, and if Wisconsin’s change is disallowed, it would mean $792 million less in GPR for the biennium.
The lawmakers said hospitals were counting on the funding to stay open and will need it to serve patients with one-third of Wisconsin hospitals operating at a deficit, pointing to $1.6 billion in lost Medicaid reimbursement dollars.
“At a time when our medical institutions are facing unprecedented financial challenges, we must do everything we can to ensure their ability to continue to operate,” the lawmakers wrote. “Our state budget was counting on it, and our constituents’ lives literally depend on it. We implore you to do everything in your power to reverse these catastrophic decisions.”
Evers and GOP lawmakers reached a deal to increase the hospital assessment before President Donald Trump signed a reconciliation bill in order to ensure the boost wouldn’t be blocked by a provision in the federal bill. At the time, Van Orden said he, fellow congressional and state Republicans ensured “access to health care” in the state budget.
In response to the Dem lawmakers’ letter, Van Orden spokesperson Grace Kim told WisPolitics the congressman “has been working day and night with the administration to ensure Wisconsin receives the hospital funding.”
She also touted the more than $203 million Wisconsin received from the Rural Health Transformation Program created in the reconciliation bill.
“Congressman Van Orden remains committed to delivering results and ensuring Wisconsin families have high quality, readily available, and actually affordable healthcare,” Kim said.
See more from the WisPolitics DC Wrap.
— The state Senate has approved SB 371, which would require schools to include certain information in their courses on pregnancy.
That includes a high-definition ultrasound video showing fetal development, high-quality computer renderings that show the cell growth and organ development for every week of pregnancy, and presentations on each trimester as it relates to the physical and emotional health of the mother.
Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, charged the bill was about indoctrinating children on abortion and was driven by those who oppose the procedure.
But Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, countered it was about providing children knowledge and that “young people, especially women, have a right to know what happens to them, their bodies, to a baby, a fetus, a child. Knowledge is power.”
It passed 18-15 along party lines. It now goes to the Assembly.
WisPolitics-State Affairs subscribers can see more Senate coverage here.
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