WED AM News: WHA touting top state ratings for nurse communication; Trump administration signs off on increased state assessment on hospital revenues

July 8, 2026

— Wisconsin has more hospitals with top ratings for nurse communication than any other state, according to new data being touted by the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

The group today is rolling out findings from Becker’s Hospital Review based on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, or HCAHPS. The standardized national survey of patients was conducted from July 2024 to June 2025.

These figures from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show 44 hospitals in the state got five-star ratings for nurse communication, exceeding Pennsylvania at No. 2 with 42 top-rated hospitals, Texas at No. 3 with 33 and Ohio at No. 4 with 32.

The ratings, which are based on publicly reported measures, indicate patient sentiment on how their nurses explained things to them, listened to them and “treated them with courtesy and respect,” according to WHA.

WHA President and CEO Kyle O’Brien says the state’s No. 1 placement on the list reflects both the efforts of individual nurses and the support provided by hospitals and health systems to enable effective communication.

“At a time when workforce challenges continue to strain hospitals and health systems across the nation, Wisconsin hospitals continue to prioritize resources on investments that will help our workforce communicate effectively with patients and deliver the exceptional care our communities depend on,” he said in a statement.

Nurse wages in the state are in the top quartile nationally, WHA notes, adding hospitals provided nearly $400 million in education and loan forgiveness programs in 2024. That’s 26% more than in the prior year.

Despite Wisconsin’s strong showing in the ratings, O’Brien argues “we cannot take this ranking for granted,” noting nurses and other providers are spending more time dealing with “regulatory burden” from insurers and the government.

He says insurance companies denying previously authorized care as well as prior authorization have “direct negative impacts on patients but also are a distraction” from patient care.

See the release.

— The Trump administration has formally signed off on a higher state assessment on hospital revenues, ensuring the state will receive $800 million for the Medicaid fund that had been built into the 2025-27 budget.

Still, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau warned yesterday the Capitol may still need to take steps to shore up the fund with the Department of Health Services currently projecting a $322.4 million general GPR shortfall in the program at the end of the biennium one year from now.

A year ago, lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers raced to finish the 2025-27 budget before Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill could be signed into law because the legislation placed new restrictions on states using their assessments on hospital revenues to generate more federal matching dollars.

The state’s increased assessment was designed to generate an additional $800 million, though it wasn’t clear the money would come through until the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services formally approved the change.

LFB wrote in the memo that CMS had signed off, and the state DHS published a notice June 29 that the higher hospital assessment had taken effect.

Separately, DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson sent a letter last week to Joint Finance Co-chairs Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, that cited several factors for the projected shortfall in the Medicaid program. That includes increased projected costs for prescription drugs, higher payments to hospitals and larger amounts of federally required payments for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicaid.

In yesterday’s LFB memo, the agency noted that the Evers administration’s “options for taking actions to significantly reduce benefit costs are somewhat limited” with program eligibility and benefits established by state and federal law.

“Even if the Department does reduce the imbalance through payment changes, these measures may not be sufficient to fully resolve the shortfall, and budget adjustment legislation may need to be considered prior to the end of the biennium,” the agency wrote.

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— GenoPalate has added blood biomarker analysis services to its platform, the Milwaukee-based personalized nutrition company announced.

With the new update to the platform, clients of GenoPalate can now upload their blood test results and get results on gaps in their nutrition based on the additional data. That’s in addition to the platform’s existing genetic and lifestyle assessments, giving a more complete picture of the body’s needs, according to the company.

For those without recent bloodwork to submit, GenoPalate has a partnership with Quest Diagnostics through which its clients can get recommendations for testing options.

Dr. Asif Naseem, the company’s chairman and CEO, notes nutritional needs are affected by diet, lifestyle, stress, physical activity and other factors.

“By adding blood biomarker analysis, we are building a more complete and dynamic model of personalized nutrition around both a person’s evolving biology and what their body needs today,” he said in the announcement.

The expansion comes after the business recently rolled out research showing its genetics-based nutrition recommendations were linked with “substantially” higher rates of health improvement.

See more in the announcement.

— AG Josh Kaul is among 22 Democratic attorneys general opposing the Trump administration’s latest push to impose double-digit tariffs on scores of U.S. trade partners.

The AGs argued in a Monday comment letter to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office that the foreign trade agency “has failed to provide a sufficient factual or legal basis” for imposing tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union.

The USTR in a June notice in the Federal Register said it had determined that 54 of those economies had “failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition” while six had failed to “effectively enforce” a prohibition.

It has proposed tariffs of 12.5% on the former group and 10% on the latter group.

The attorneys general in their comment letter argue the investigation that preceded the proposal offered scant evidence the targeted economies were importing goods made with forced labor and that the USTR’s actions are a pretense to impose more tariffs after similar levies were struck down by courts.

“The Trump administration’s illegal tariffs have been harmful to the economy and made life less affordable for Wisconsin families,” Kaul said in a statement. “President Trump needs to let go of his fixation with tariffs.”

The office of the USTR didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

See the letter.

See the release.

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