— The new budget signed by Gov. Tony Evers includes a workers’ compensation fee schedule for hospital charges — a compromise on an issue that for years has pitted the state’s business lobby against the health care industry.
Scott Manley, executive vice president of government affairs for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, says the fee schedule doesn’t go as far as the group would have liked. But he called it a good first step to “rein in” costs for employers related to workplace injuries, as it would set new maximum fees for hospital care provided to injured workers under the workers’ compensation program.
In an interview last week, Manley noted Wisconsin has some of the highest costs in the country for common procedures in the workers’ compensation space, such as major surgeries and pain management. He argued that’s because the state is currently one of just five that don’t have a fee schedule for workers’ compensation medical costs.
“Although we recognize that the fee schedule that was passed in the budget is not as, you know, comprehensive as we’d like it to be, we think that it’s a very important and necessary first step, in terms of being able to get Wisconsin out of the position of being the most expensive state in the country for work comp medical procedures,” Manley said.
Ultimately, he expects “the rate that businesses pay for their workers’ compensation insurance will go down” to the extent that the fee schedule lowers medical costs in the program in the years to come. A recent study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute focused on the recent inflationary period found fee schedules “ensure similar or lower price growth rates” compared to the overall health care system.
But Kyle O’Brien, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, said “we disagree with some of those assessments of prices” made by WMC, arguing they focus only on one part of the health system rather than the overall cost and value provided.
He said the state has some of the best return-to-work rates and lowest litigation rates in the country thanks to the high-quality care that workers receive. And he added overall workers’ compensation rates have fallen in recent years, noting costs for Wisconsin employers in the system have declined by $1 billion since 2017.
O’Brien also said previous fee schedule proposals in the state would have taken “a sledgehammer” to a system he says is working well. This time around, he said WHA was able to support the overall budget including the fee schedule thanks to “reforms” to the system to prompt faster payments. He also said a separate provision directing more federal dollars to hospitals was key.
“This is different from previous cycles wherein the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council has pushed the fee schedule onto providers without our input,” he said in an interview. “It’s something that has caused us to go to the Legislature and successfully defeat those proposals. This is different, because we actually were at the table negotiating reforms in the system, and that’s why we were okay with this being included in the budget.”
The debate over a fee schedule has percolated in the Capitol for years. The Worker’s Compensation Advisory Council — a body made up of labor and management — proposed legislation in 2014 that included a fee schedule. The legislation got public hearings in both houses, but never made it to the floor amid opposition from the Wisconsin Hospital Association and other providers.
That bill called for the Department of Workforce Development to break the state into five regions and determine the average payment for services included in the schedule. The agency would then have set a maximum fee that any health care provider could charge at 100% of the average cost for each procedure covered.
The provision in the budget signed last week requires the state Department of Workforce Development by mid-2027 to establish the framework for the maximum fees hospitals can charge under workers’ compensation. That means most employers in the state likely wouldn’t start to see the impact through lower workers’ compensation insurance rates until 2028, Manley said.
And unlike other states with such a system in place, Wisconsin’s fee schedule would only apply to hospital charges. Manley notes other states’ workers’ comp fee schedules apply to other eligible care, such as physical therapy and chiropractor services.
WMC would prefer a fee schedule to cover all medical services, he noted. But Manley also added the “biggest, most expensive” workers’ comp medical costs are linked to procedures taking place at hospitals such as a rotator cuff repair or knee replacement surgery.
See the full story here.
— Mastercraft Ventures in Beloit has raised $6.2 million in funding and aims to begin deploying capital by the fourth quarter of this year.
That’s according to Managing Director Mason Cook, who discussed the path ahead for the fund in an interview Friday. It launched earlier this year with a $2.4 million investment from the state’s Badger Fund of Funds, which makes up about 40% of the $6.2 million total being announced today. The rest came from private investors.
“At the end of the day, Mastercraft Ventures, our main goal is closing the gap in funding in the state,” Cook said. “Wisconsin ranks toward the end of states — not just in the Midwest, but in the country — of available venture capital dollars.”
Cook previously led software business RealityBLU in Beloit.
He noted many startup companies end up seeking funds elsewhere and even leaving Wisconsin altogether, and he wants to help provide more seed capital for businesses coming up in the state. The firm will provide the first $500,000 or so that an entrepreneur needs to get off the ground, investing across a wide array of industries.
“Looking at Wisconsin and southern Wisconsin in particular where I am and a lot of my network is, there’s just a few industries that I think we punch above our weight class in, specifically advanced manufacturing, food processing, health care, distribution logistics,” he said. “Those are areas where we’re really excited, especially with things like AI and automation being great tailwinds for those specific industries.”
The firm is primarily focused on companies based in Wisconsin, and Cook says “there’s an opportunity to return great capital for our investors” by looking at innovation coming from within the state. But he referenced having “some latitude to look outside of state lines” as well.
Cook also praised the state’s willingness to back up-and-coming fund managers through the Badger Fund of Funds.
“I really think venture capital is an apprenticeship business, and Wisconsin in particular has perhaps a succession problem where older venture capitalists at the later end of their career haven’t necessarily been able to find a successor or put systems in place to do that,” he said, noting the Badger Fund of Funds “can actually fill a nice gap in Wisconsin.”
He added: “I saw that vision and really was attracted to that from the Badger Fund side.”
Mastercraft Ventures is the eighth venture capital fund supported by the Badger Fund of Funds. Ken Johnson, a partner in the state financing effort, says a major focus is addressing the state’s need for “first in investors” for new startups.
“Typically, a VC fund will continue to fundraise to their target fund size after holding a close like this, and the Badger Fund will invest an additional 40 cents for every 60 cents raised by Mastercraft,” Johnson said in a statement.
Mastercraft plans to register with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to be certified as a qualified venture fund, the announcement notes. That would allow it to offer state tax credits to eligible investors when it backs startups based in the state that are recognized as qualified new business ventures.
Cook said he’s excited for the fund to “be a vehicle for folks to really invest in Wisconsin’s upside.”
See the release and an earlier story on the firm.
See another recent story on investment in Wisconsin.
— ThedaCare says it’s on track to complete its $84 million Oshkosh medical campus later this year as it begins recruiting for positions.
After breaking ground on the project in March 2024, the health system recently announced “significant progress” has been made on the 114,000-square-foot medical center.
Construction on concrete curbs has wrapped up while sidewalks at the site are nearly complete, and flooring installation and initial painting has begun, according to the update. Meanwhile, exterior glass features have been installed and contractors have started landscaping and asphalt paving.
Once complete, ThedaCare Medical Center-Oshkosh will include an emergency department, radiology and lab services, an ambulatory surgery center, a drive through retail pharmacy, a medical office building and more.
Jenny Nikolai, vice president of ThedaCare’s medical centers in Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, says the new campus “rounds out clinical care we have been providing the Oshkosh community for years, including cancer care, behavioral health, urgent care, orthopedics, physical therapy, primary care, pediatrics and more.”
As the project moves toward completion by year’s end, the health system has started recruiting for the 60 new jobs that are expected to be created at the campus, the announcement notes.
See the release and see pictures of the project site here.
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— WEDC has announced $1.6 million in funding for 14 organizations supporting entrepreneurs in the state.
This round of grants from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is expected to benefit about 600 people and businesses across 19 counties.
Recipients include higher education institutions, community financial organizations, economic development groups, chambers of commerce and others. Awards range from $50,000 up to $200,000.
See grant details in the release.
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MANAGEMENT
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REAL ESTATE
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RETAIL
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TECHNOLOGY
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TOURISM
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TRANSPORTATION
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PRESS RELEASES
