Legislators honored by Association for Home Health Care

Last month, the Wisconsin Association for Home Health Care (WiAHC) announced its 2019-2020 “Friend of Home Health Care” recipients. The designation is meant to publicly identify Wisconsin State Legislators that supported the expanded utilization of home health care as an effective, affordable option for post-acute care.

The 2019-20 “Friend of Home Health Care” recipients include the following legislators:

Rep. Jimmy Anderson

Rep. David Bowen

Rep. Rob Brooks

Rep. Jonathan Brostoff

Sen. Tim Carpenter

Rep. Dave Considine

Rep. Barbara Dittrich

Rep. Steve Doyle

Rep. James Edming

Rep. Jodi Emerson

Rep. Mary Felzkowski

Sen. Dan Feyen

Rep. Cody Horlacher

Sen. Dale Kooyenga

Rep. Scott Krug

Sen. Chris Larson

Rep. Amy Loudenbeck

Rep. Nick Milroy

Rep. Jeff Mursau

Rep. Beth Myers

Sen. Steve Nass

Rep. Warren Petryk

Rep. Sondy Pope

Rep. Melissa Sargent

Sen. Patty Schachtner

Rep. Katrina Shankland

Rep. Chris Sinicki

Rep. Ken Skowronski

Rep. John Spiros

Rep. Mark Spreitzer

Rep. Lisa Subeck

Rep. Rob Summerfield

Sen. Lena Taylor

Sen. Patrick Testin

Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt

Rep. Ron Tusler

Rep. Don Vruwink

Rep. Chuck Wichger

“These legislators were critical to our legislative success and championed our most important priorities,” said Lisa Kirker, Chair of the WiAHC Board of Directors. “Home health care agencies across Wisconsin are grateful for the support and partnership of these individuals.”

WiAHC was very active during the 2019-2020 legislative session in educating legislators on the workforce issues facing home health care agencies and how increasing MA reimbursement rates can alleviate financial burden as well as attract new staff. WiAHC was successful in advocating for the introduction of Assembly Bill 447/Senate Bill 416, which aimed to increase MA reimbursement rates by 10% for home health visits. The bill received a public hearing in the Senate Health Committee, and WiAHC is hopeful there will be continued interest in the legislation next session. WiAHC also successfully advocated for legislation that allowed all MA reimbursable services to be conducted via telehealth.