FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Angie Ingraham, True North Patient Advocates; WMC survey finds broad support for strengthening hospital transparency

June 19, 2026

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Dr. Angie Ingraham, founder of True North Patient Advocates.

Ingraham is a former trauma surgeon and critical care physician who now works as a board-certified independent patient advocate, helping people navigate the healthcare system. While based in Madison, she has clients across the country.

The conversation explores Ingraham’s motivation for launching the company about a year ago, after serving as an advocate for her father before he died of brain cancer in 2021.

“We found that I could help him in ways that others couldn’t in navigating the healthcare system, and all the challenges that we had during his illness,” she said. “And from that, I found professional patient advocacy.”

She discusses how she guides her clients through various aspects of getting medical care, from seeking second opinions to accompanying them to doctor’s appointments, as well as helping with transitions of care, finding long-term care options and addressing billing and insurance hurdles.

“I’ve helped some of my clients appeal Medicare denials in order to get their rehab stays covered, for example,” she said. “So every client and family is unique, and I tailor my services to meet those needs.”

Her company’s growth so far has largely been driven by word-of-mouth connections, along with some help from professional organizations that assist patients in finding advocates. There’s currently no licensure requirements for her profession, allowing her to work with clients anywhere in the United States.

“For the ones who are local, I do go in person with them to doctor’s appointments or provider appointments if they want,” she said. “For the ones who are out of state, I would fly there if they want me to, but we can do a lot virtually and a lot over the phone … there’s lots of ways you can serve as an advocate for someone.”

In addition to her work with True North Patient Advocates, Ingraham is a board member for the nonprofit HealthAdvocate^xand a member of the National Association of Healthcare Advocacy and the Alliance for Professional Health Advocates.

Listen to the podcast here and see the full list of WisBusiness podcasts.

— The latest WMC survey found broad support for policies to “strengthen” hospital price transparency requirements as healthcare costs for employers continue to rise.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce yesterday rolled out more results from its latest Wisconsin Employer Survey, putting a spotlight on business concerns around the cost of providing healthcare.

When asked about policies to strengthen hospital price transparency requirements in the state “so employers and patients can better understand and compare healthcare costs before receiving care,” 85% said they strongly support them and 11% said they somewhat support them.

Just 4% said they neither supported or opposed them, and no respondents were opposed.

Rachel Ver Velde, associate vice president of government relations for WMC, says healthcare is the only industry where consumers and patients don’t know how much services cost before receiving them.

“Two patients can receive the same procedure yet face dramatically different bills, creating confusion for families and employers alike,” she said in a statement. “By advancing meaningful price transparency legislation, Wisconsin can create a more affordable system that puts patients first.”

When asked what state government could do to help their business, 39% of respondents said it should make healthcare more affordable. That was followed by reducing taxes at 23% and reducing or reforming regulations at 19%, while all other responses were at 6% or lower.

Of the respondents that provide healthcare benefits for their employees, 93% said their healthcare costs increased this year. Six percent said they stayed the same and 1% said they decreased. The most common range for that increase was 6-10%, with more than 40% of respondents.

WMC also asked those with higher healthcare costs to list related factors, and 88% pointed to higher costs from providers, followed by 51% pointing to higher drug costs.

The group surveyed 196 employers from May 6-29 through traditional mail and an online survey, including companies that make up a “representative sample” of its membership and the state’s business community.

See the report.

— Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative is cheering new federal guidance for the H-2A migrant labor program that allows dairy operations to participate, if they can demonstrate a temporary or seasonal need for labor.

The Green Bay-based co-op yesterday issued a statement on the Trump administration’s new guidance for the program, calling it a “meaningful first step” in making permanent changes to H-2A.

The program has allowed ag employers to bring in workers from other countries to fill temporary jobs, and has typically been used by crop farms, greenhouses and plant nurseries in the state. The number of H-2A worker certifications has been rising in Wisconsin, from under 200 in 2013 to more than 3,000 in 2025, based on Department of Workforce Development figures.

Heidi Fischer, the co-op’s president, says the change addresses a “decades-old need” that’s been championed by Edge and other advocates for years. She added having access to a visa program to help address labor needs is encouraging to dairy farmers.

“We believe workforce reform is a food security issue and ultimately a national security issue … Food security is dependent on a reliable, skilled and safe workforce that harvest crops, care for livestock and process the food to keep American families fed,” she said in a statement.

See more in an earlier story.

— Consumer advocacy and environmental groups are asking regulators to reject a request to ease credit rating standards for data center customers served by We Energies.

We Energies parent WEC Energy Group, the Port Washington data center campus developers and principal tenant Oracle last week asked the Public Service Commission to exempt the tech firm from credit rating and financial security requirements.

That would mandate Oracle post some $7 billion in collateral and incur some $100 million in bank fees annually, the company claimed.

Consumer and environmental advocacy groups argued in filings this week that lowering the bar for Oracle and other tech firms would expose other utility customers to financial risk.

“What (Oracle Vice President Julia) Robin describes as a ‘deadweight loss’ to Oracle would be something very different to (We Energies’) ratepayers: a valuable insurance policy against stranded assets and unreasonable cost-shifting if Oracle suffers financial losses,” the Citizens Utility Board argued in a brief.

In their April decision, commissioners required data centers and other large customers to post collateral for the cost of new “bespoke” power generation built to serve those customers.

But they exempted customers with a credit rating of A- or higher and who met certain liquidity and asset benchmarks.

CUB argued for collateral requirements – and against exemptions – when the case was initially argued, pointing out that other ratepayers would be saddled with the cost of so-called “stranded assets” if data center operators collapse and leave their new power resources unutilized.

The utility, the data center developers and Oracle asked the PSC to instead require companies with a lower credit rating, like the BBB-rated Oracle, post a percentage of the collateral required, and allow WEC Energy Group to exempt Oracle from the liquidity and asset tests.

The parties argue that Oracle’s investment-grade credit rating shows it is a reliable customer that is unlikely to default on its obligations and that the state is boxing out potential investors by including such stringent requirements.

The Wisconsin Utilities Association also submitted a letter Wednesday boosting this argument.

But CUB and other intervenors argue Oracle’s credit rating is an imperfect measure of its financial health.

“An investment grade credit rating provides little advance warning of financial difficulties that may worsen rapidly,” CUB general counsel Daniel Narvey wrote. “When companies encounter financial difficulties, they often have limited motivation to fully disclose the extent of their challenges. Likewise, a company suffering acute financial distress may lose net worth and liquidity quickly.”

The consumer advocacy group has cited the failure of energy giant Enron, which received investment-grade ratings from the Big Three credit rating agencies less than a week before it filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

CUB, as well as intervenors Walnut Way Conservation Corp. and Clean Wisconsin, have also questioned Oracle’s financial security in their latest filings. CUB cited a Vanderbilt University white paper that found the company to be uniquely financially vulnerable in the event of an artificial intelligence market bubble burst.

CUB also argues it would be inappropriate for the PSC to take up the request to allow the utility to exempt Oracle from the liquidity and asset requirements, since it did not come up when commissioners first heard arguments, and “should be taken up through a separate, pre-defined process.”

PSC spokesperson Meghan Sovey-Lashua said PSC staff are reviewing the new filings.

Commissioners have 30 days to respond to the utility and developers’ request for a rehearing.

— The state’s unemployment rate in May fell slightly from the prior month, but remained higher than at the same point last year.

The state Department of Workforce Development yesterday released the latest estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, showing state unemployment dipped by 0.1 percentage point to reach 3.4% in May. One year earlier, that rate was 3.1%.

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate remains below the national rate of 4.3%, which was unchanged over the month and year.

Meanwhile, both the state labor force participation rate and the national rate held over the month at 64.4% and 61.8%, respectively.

See the release.

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