WI Legislative Action Archive

2025 Campaigns

SB 264, “Gail’s Law”

Please contact your Wisconsin Assembly member to support a hearing on SB 264, also known as “Gail’s Law,” which would mandate insurance coverage for supplemental breast cancer screening for individuals with dense breast tissue for whom routine mammography screening is not adequate. Click here for details of the bill.

This bill has broad bipartisan support and passed the Wisconsin Senate by a vote of 32 to 1 on 10/14/25, but is stalled in the Assembly.

On 11/19/25 SB 264 was referred by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to the Assembly Committee on Assembly Organization, which Rep. Vos chairs. There is no current scheduled hearing for this bill.

Wisconsin Needs Postpartum Medicaid Coverage

Ask Your Wisconsin Representative to Support AB97, which would extend Medicaid coverage postpartum from 60 days to 12 months.

Background: Medicaid finances about 35% of all births in Wisconsin. While U.S. federal law requires states to provide pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage through 60 days postpartum, since 2021 states have had the option to extend Medicaid coverage through a full year postpartum via a state plan amendment. Wisconsin is one of only two states that has not yet adopted this postpartum coverage extension.

Postpartum care includes follow-up on pregnancy complications, management of chronic health conditions, access to family planning, and addressing mental health conditions which affect one in ten postpartum individuals. It is critical to maintain coverage throughout this period. 73% of pregnancy-related deaths in Wisconsin occur postpartum, and women of color and women living in rural areas are disproportionately impacted.

Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Senate passed SB23 which would extend Medicaid coverage for a full year postpartum. Now, the Assembly must act. On November 19, the Assembly version of the bill AB97 was referred by Speaker Robin Vos to the Assembly Committee on Assembly Organization, which Rep. Vos chairs. There is currently no scheduled hearing for these bills.

Wisconsin Health Professional Assistance Program Legislation Circulating for Cosponsors

A major proposal to establish a Wisconsin Health Professional Assistance Program (HPAP) is now being circulated for legislative cosponsors in the State Capitol, and physician engagement will be essential to ensure the bill advances.

The proposal would direct the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) to contract with a qualified nonprofit entity to create a confidential, evidence-based program supporting early identification, treatment, and monitoring for affected professionals. Participation can be voluntary and strictly confidential, and the bill includes strong safeguards against unauthorized disclosure. The program is built on national best practices and is structured to support clinicians while preserving public safety. As workforce shortages deepen across the state – especially in rural areas – this program represents a proactive, compassionate, and cost-effective strategy to protect both the clinical workforce and the patients who depend on it.

How You Can Help!

Contact your State Assembly Representative and State Senator as soon as possible.
Urge them to co-sponsor the HPAP legislation (currently numbered as LRB 3279) and emphasize the importance of confidential, evidence-based support for clinicians.
Share your perspective on how workforce burnout, behavioral health challenges, and untreated impairment risks affect both physicians and patients.

For more information, please click here.

Safety for Domestic Violence Victims: Closing Wisconsin's Misdemeanor Loophole

Wisconsin healthcare practitioners can promote policy change to make life safer for those impacted by domestic violence. We can urge our legislators to address a loophole in Wisconsin law allowing those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to still legally own firearms.

In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Wisconsin's existing laws could no longer be used to disarm many domestic abusers. While federal law prohibits people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanor from purchasing firearms, Wisconsin lacks a specific domestic violence status to trigger this prohibition. This has led to an unfortunate loophole, raising the risk for victims of domestic violence, and even for abusers themselves.

The single greatest predictor of violent acts is a history of violent or aggressive acts, including domestic violence. A woman in an abusive relationship is five times as likely to be killed if her abuser has access to a gun. In more than two-thirds of mass shootings between 2014 and 2019, the shooter either had a history of domestic violence or killed a family member or partner.

Wisconsin ranks 8th in the country in the number of women murdered by men. Between 2000 and 2020, there was a 62% increase in intimate partner homicides in Wisconsin. The most recent report from End Abuse Wisconsin shows that in 2023, domestic violence claimed 85 lives in Wisconsin and in 78% of those deaths firearms were the weapons used.

2024 Campaigns

Support Access to Menstrual Hygiene Products & Diapers

As advocates for reproductive health, we request your support to contact your Wisconsin representatives in support of important legislative efforts to address period poverty. The link below requests support for a committee vote on Wisconsin SB 219, which would create a sales and use tax exemption for the sale of menstrual hygiene products and diapers.

ACP has long believed that women should have access to affordable, comprehensive and nondiscriminatory health care coverage. This should include access to affordable menstrual hygiene products. Through this legislation, Wisconsin would join the majority of states that provide sales and use tax exemption for these products, as well as for diapers for children and incontinent adults. Since cost of these products is especially burdensome to individuals facing financial hardship, this legislation reflects a policy to reduce socioeconomic inequalities and improve health equity.

Thank you for taking the time to urge action on this important initiative.

Sincerely,

Lopa Kabir-Islam, MD, MBA, FACP; Rachel Bernard, MD, MPH, FACP; Jennifer Mackinnon, MD, MM, FACP
ACP-Wisconsin Health and Public Policy Committee, Reproductive Health Advocacy Workgroup

Promote State-wide Investment in Pollution-free Transportation - A.B. 846 and A.B. 847

ACP Wisconsin is calling on all members to contact their representative in the Wisconsin legislature to urge them to pass legislation allowing Wisconsin to receive $78.5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to build out electric vehicle charging across the state. This legislation aligns with ACP policy and is critical for achieving the necessary transition in how transportation is powered in the United States from fossil fuels, which are causing climate change and harming human health, to renewable energy sources. While we have recommendations for the bill text to be strengthened, our priority is for the bill to pass in time for the state to apply for federal funding at the end of February.

Please use the link below to e-mail or call your Wisconsin assembly representative to support this important legislation.

Sincerely

Victoria Gillet, MD and Richard Dart, MD, MACP
ACP-Wisconsin Health and Public Policy Committee, Climate and Health Advocacy Work Group

2023 Campaigns

Suicide Awareness

In recognition of September as Suicide Awareness month, we have an opportunity to ask our elected representatives to support current bills in the Wisconsin legislature known as “Gun Shop Bills". This package of bills will create grant funding for voluntary safe gun storage at gun shops for people who are at risk for suicide, as well as education about suicide prevention.

Action Requested: Please use this alert to email your members of the Wisconsin State Legislature asking them to sponsor and pass these bills. Sample email messages to state representatives and senators are provided for you that includes space for you to personalize the letters.

Background: Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the State Assembly (AB 173 and AB 355) and State Senate (SB 205 and SB 356) that would allow the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to award grants to organizations or coalitions of organizations for 1) training staff at firearm retailers or ranges to recognize a person who may be considering suicide; 2) providing suicide prevention material for distribution at a firearm retailer or range; or 3) providing voluntary, temporary firearm storage for the lawful owner of a firearm.

The inspiration for this proposal comes from “The Gun Shop Project,” a program started in response to suicide among veterans. While the VA is currently providing some funding, further expansion will depend on state funding.

https://www.betherewis.com/firearm-storage-online-map/

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/special-reports/2023/08/23/wisconsin-gun-store-owners-offer-to-take-in-firearms-to-combat-suicwisconsin-gun-store-owners-offer/70502343007/

Suicide accounts for over half of all gun deaths. ACP has long advocated for evidence-based policies to reduce the rates of firearm injuries and deaths and calls on physicians to advocate for national, state, and local efforts to enact meaningful legislation.

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/M18-1530?journalCode=aim

These bills will provide funding to help reduce the risk of suicide at the community level, by providing support and protection for lawful gun owners at risk of acute suicidal crisis until their crisis passes. This program has the potential to save countless lives without the need to petition a court for removal of firearms from individuals who are at imminent risk of harming themselves or others.

Sincerely,

Sophie Kramer, M.D., FACP
Chair, ACP Wisconsin Chapter Health and Public Policy Committee
Gun Safety Advocacy Workgroup: Mara Terras, M.D.; Siobhan Wilson, M.D., Ph.D.; Megan Schleusner, MCW-Central Wisconsin Student; Apurva Popat, M.D., IM Resident Marshfield Clinic

Health Equity: AB 114

We request that you take this opportunity to contact your Wisconsin Assembly representative to support AB 114, a companion bill to Senate Bill 110, which would extend health coverage provided postpartum under the Medical Assistance program from 60 days to 12 months.

This important bill aligns with ACP policies on expanding health coverage and health equity. Assembly Bill 114 will improve access to care, help patients better manage serious and chronic health conditions and reduce negative maternal outcomes that disproportionately affect women of color.

Please feel free to personalize the message linked above through Voter Voice. If you know that your Assembly Representative currently supports AB 114, please thank them for their support.

Sincerely,

Sophie Kramer, M.D., FACP, Chair, ACP-Wisconsin Chapter Health and Public Policy Committee (HPPC)
Leila Famouri, M.D., Member Medicaid Expansion Advocacy Workgroup, ACP-WI HPPC
Barbara Horner-Ibler, M.D., FACP, Member Medicaid Expansion Advocacy Workgroup, ACP-WI HPPC