Under current law, school boards and independent charter schools are required
to evaluate teachers and principals using an educator effectiveness evaluation
system that considers pupil performance on statewide assessments. School boards
and independent charter schools were prohibited from considering pupil
performance on statewide assessments in evaluating teachers and principals in the
2019-20 school year. Under the bill, the prohibition against considering pupil
performance on statewide assessments in evaluating teachers and principals also
applies in 2020-21 school year.
School and school district accountability report
Under current law, DPI is required to publish a school and school district
accountability report for the previous school year by November 30. To measure
school performance and school district improvement for purposes of the report card,
particularly measures related to pupil achievement in reading and math, DPI uses
data derived from pupil performance on the WSAS.
Under current law, schools and school districts were not required to administer
the WSAS in the 2019-20 school year and DPI is prohibited from publishing a school
and school district accountability report in the 2020-21 school year. Under the bill,
schools and school districts are not required to administer the WSAS in the 2020-21
school year and DPI is prohibited from publishing a school and school district
accountability report in the 2021-22 school year.
Employment
Hazard pay and paid medical leave
The bill requires employers to provide hazard pay to certain health care
workers during a public health emergency. The bill also requires employers to
provide at least 15 days of paid medical leave for certain health care workers who
contract a communicable disease. Under the bill, an employer may request a
reimbursement from the Department of Administration for the paid medical leave
and hazard pay. The hazard pay and paid medical leave requirements in the bill also
apply until December 31, 2021, regardless of whether a public health emergency has
been declared by the governor or whether the secretary of health services has issued
an order.
Limited-term employees
Under the bill, the director of the Bureau of Merit Recruitment and Selection
in the Division of Personnel Management in DOA may adjust the number of hours
a state employee in a limited-term appointment may work during the period
beginning on March 12, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2021. Under current law,
a limited-term appointment may not exceed 1,040 hours per year.
Use of annual leave
Under the bill, a state employee may take annual leave during the period
beginning on March 12, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2021, even if the employee
has not completed the first six months of the employee's probationary period. Under
current law, an employee may not take annual leave during the first six months of
the employee's probationary period.
Unemployment Insurance; Benefit charging
Current law, as enacted in
2019 Wisconsin Act 185, requires the Department
of Workforce Development, when processing claims for unemployment insurance
benefits and evaluating work-share plans, to determine whether a claim or plan is
related to the public health emergency declared by the governor under executive
order 72. If a claim is so related, current law provides that the regular benefits for
that claim for weeks occurring after March 12, 2020, and before December 31, 2020,
not be charged as is normally provided. Instead, the benefits for those weeks are,
subject to numerous exceptions, to be charged in one of two ways:
1. To the balancing account of the unemployment reserve fund, which is a
pooled account financed by employers that pay contributions (taxes) and is used to
pay benefits that are not chargeable to any employer's account.
2. To the unemployment interest and penalties appropriation account for
reimbursable employers, which are employers that do not pay contributions but
instead reimburse DWD for benefits directly.
The bill allows the secretary of administration to transfer moneys from any
executive branch appropriation to the unemployment interest and penalties
appropriation account for the purpose of paying the benefits described above
attributable to reimbursable employers under Act 185. The transfers may not exceed
the amount necessary to make those payments.
Unemployment Insurance; Work-share programs
Current law allows an employer to create a work-share program within a work
unit of the employer. Under a work-share program, the working hours of all of the
full-time employees in the program are reduced in an equitable manner in lieu of a
layoff of some of the employees and a continuation of full-time employment by the
other employees. A claimant for unemployment insurance benefits who is included
in a work-share program may receive UI benefits during his or her continued
employment with the work-share employer in an amount equal to the claimant's
benefit for total unemployment multiplied by the same percentage reduction in
normal working hours that the claimant incurs under the program. Current law also
provides for the temporary modification of certain requirements that apply to
work-share plans with respect to work-share plans submitted on or after April 17,
2020, and before December 31, 2020. The bill extends the applicability of these
modifications to January 1, 2022. The bill also adds an additional modification,
which is made effective permanently, to allow work-share plans to remain in effect
for 12 months in a five-year period, instead of six months.
Unemployment Insurance; Waiting period
Currently, a claimant must generally wait one week after becoming eligible to
receive UI benefits before the claimant may receive benefits for a week of
unemployment, but the application of the one-week waiting period is temporarily
suspended for benefit years that began after March 12, 2020, and before February
7, 2021. The bill extends the end date for suspending the one-week waiting period
to January 1, 2022.
Unemployment Insurance; Registration for work and work search waivers
Under current law, a claimant for UI benefits is generally required to register
for work and to search for work each week in order to remain eligible, but DWD is
required to waive these requirements under certain circumstances. Under current
law, DWD has limited rule-making authority to modify the availability of waivers
or establish additional waivers if necessary to comply with a requirement under
federal law or if specifically allowed under federal law. The bill allows DWD to
promulgate rules that remain in effect until January 1, 2022, that provide waivers
of the registration for work or work search requirements under additional
circumstances.
Unemployment Insurance; Receipt of Social Security Disability Insurance
benefits
Under current law, in any week in any month that a claimant is receiving a
benefit under the federal social security disability program, that claimant is
ineligible for UI benefits. The bill repeals that prohibition and allows an otherwise
eligible claimant to receive both federal social security disability benefits and
unemployment insurance benefits for the same period.
Worker's compensation; Injury to critical workers
The bill provides that, for the purposes of worker's compensation, an injury
caused to a critical worker by COVID-19 during the period beginning on the effective
date of the bill and ending on December 31, 2021, is presumed to be caused by the
individual's employment. The presumption requires a diagnosis or positive test for
COVID-19 and may be rebutted by specific evidence that the injury was caused
outside of employment. Under the bill, the secretary of health services determines
which workers are considered critical workers during the specified period.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Remote notarization of estate planning documents
The bill allows a notary public, through the end of calendar year 2021, to
perform notarizations involving estate planning documents for individuals not
physically present before the notary public.
Current law generally requires a person to physically appear before a notary
public in order for the notary public to perform a notarial act, but provisions in
2019
Wisconsin Act 125 allow a notary public, using technology, to notarize documents for
persons not physically present with the notary public (remotely located individuals)
if certain requirements are satisfied. This authority under Act 125 for a notary
public to perform a notarial act for a remotely located individual does not extend to
a transaction involving estate planning documents such as wills and trusts.
The bill allows a notary public, through the end of calendar year 2021, to
perform for a remotely located individual a notarial act involving estate planning
documents such as wills and trusts.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Prescription order extensions
Current law allows a pharmacist to extend a prescription order under certain
circumstances in the event that the prescription cannot otherwise be refilled, subject
to certain criteria and limitations. However, current law also includes an alternative
authorization for a pharmacist to extend a prescription during the public health
emergency declared on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72, and for 30 days after
the conclusion of that public health emergency. Under this alternative
authorization, a pharmacist is exempt from having to contact the prescribing
practitioner or his or her office, the pharmacist may extend the prescription by up
to a 30-day supply, and certain other requirements also do not apply. The bill
provides that this alternative authorization to extend a prescription order also
applies beginning on the bill's effective date to the end of 2021.
Medical Assistance payment for hospitals for nursing facility care
The bill requires the Department of Health Services to provide reimbursement
or a supplemental payment to hospitals under the Medical Assistance program for
providing nursing-facility-level custodial care. To receive reimbursement or
supplemental payment, the hospital must notify DHS that it is participating as a
swing bed hospital under the Medical Assistance program and providing custodial
care for which federal financial participation is approved to an individual who is
eligible for discharge after receiving inpatient care in the hospital, who needs
nursing-facility-level care, and for whom the hospital is unable to locate a nursing
facility that accepts the individual for admission. If providing reimbursement
instead of supplemental payment, DHS must pay the hospital the statewide average
per-diem rate paid to nursing facilities. DHS must use the same standards and
eligibility criteria as the federal Medicare program uses to determine
reimbursement for swing beds or, for hospitals that are not critical access hospitals,
the terms of a federal waiver issued during the federally declared national
emergency related to the 2019 novel coronavirus. This requirement to reimburse
hospitals for providing nursing facility care applies until June 30, 2021, or until the
termination of any public health emergency declared by the secretary of the federal
Department of Health and Human Services related to the 2019 novel coronavirus,
whichever is earlier.
Reimbursement for outpatient services provided by hospitals
The bill requires DHS to provide reimbursement through the Medical
Assistance program to a hospital for services provided on an outpatient basis that are
usually reimbursed when provided at the hospital's inpatient facility but are
provided at the hospital's outpatient facility due to the 2019 novel coronavirus
pandemic. To receive reimbursement under the bill, the outpatient services must be
approved for federal financial participation and must be provided in a facility that
is operated by the hospital and is certified for outpatient services under the federal
Medicare program, including under the terms of a federal waiver issued during the
federally declared national emergency related to the 2019 novel coronavirus. DHS
must seek any federal approval necessary to provide the reimbursement. The
reimbursement requirement applies until the conclusion of a public health
emergency declared by the secretary of the federal Department of Health and
Human Services in response to the 2019 novel coronavirus or until June 30, 2021,
whichever is earlier.
State coverage for treatment of uninsured health care workers
The bill requires DHS to provide state payment for the testing and treatment
of health care workers who have been diagnosed with or are under investigation of
having COVID-19 or any other communicable disease. State coverage is available
only if the individual has no other form of coverage or funding for treatment available
from insurance, a health care coverage program, or under any grant, contract, or
other contractual arrangement. For purposes of the state coverage for uninsured
health care workers, the treatment that must be covered is any treatment that is
medically necessary and reasonably related to COVID-19 or any other
communicable disease or complications from COVID-19 or other communicable
disease.
Medicaid expansion
The bill accepts the Medicaid expansion by changing the family income
eligibility level to up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line for parents and
caretaker relatives under BadgerCare Plus and for childless adults currently
covered under BadgerCare Plus Core and who are incorporated into BadgerCare
Plus in the bill. BadgerCare Plus and BadgerCare Plus Core are programs under the
state's Medical Assistance program, which provides health services to individuals
who have limited financial resources. The federal Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act allows a state to receive an enhanced federal medical assistance percentage
payment for providing benefits to certain individuals through a state's Medical
Assistance program. The bill requires DHS to comply with all federal requirements
and to request any amendment to the state Medical Assistance plan, waiver of
Medicaid law, or other federal approval necessary to qualify for the highest available
enhanced federal medical assistance percentage for childless adults under the
BadgerCare Plus program. DHS must ensure that any increased funding resulting
from the bill is used to improve access to and affordability of health care and to
support health care quality for Wisconsin residents.
Under current law, certain parents and caretaker relatives with incomes of not
more than 100 percent of the federal poverty line, before a 5 percent income disregard
is applied, are eligible for BadgerCare Plus benefits. Under current law, childless
adults who 1) are under age 65; 2) have family incomes that do not exceed 100 percent
of the federal poverty line, before a 5 percent income disregard is applied; and 3) are
not otherwise eligible for Medical Assistance, including BadgerCare Plus, are
eligible for benefits under BadgerCare Plus Core. The bill eliminates the childless
adults demonstration project known as BadgerCare Plus Core.
Orders prohibiting evictions and foreclosures
The bill allows DHS to issue an order prohibiting the commencement of actions
for eviction or foreclosure for any period before January 1, 2022.
Funding for Department of Health Services for COVID-19
The bill provides funding to DHS for community testing, contact tracing,
vaccinations, and public awareness related to COVID-19.
Child care financial assistance program
The bill appropriates $25,000,000 to the Department of Children and Families
to give financial assistance to providers of child care services that have lost income
as a result of the 2019 novel coronavirus.
housing
Rental assistance funding
The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of
2020 provided federal funding for a rental assistance program administered by DOA.
Under that program, Wisconsin residents suffering a loss of income due to the 2019
novel coronavirus, and who met income and certain other eligibility requirements,
could apply for assistance in paying their rent. The bill appropriates $25,000,000 of
general purpose revenue for that program.
insurance
Coverage limits on certain prescription drugs
The bill prohibits insurers that offer health insurance, self-insured
governmental health plans, and pharmacy benefit managers from requiring, before
January 1, 2022, prior authorization for early refills of a prescription drug or
otherwise restricting the period of time in which a prescription drug may be refilled
and from imposing a limit on the quantity of prescription drugs that may be obtained
if the quantity is no more than a 90-day supply. These prohibitions do not apply if
the prescription drug is a controlled substance. The bill reinstates the prohibitions
that were enacted in
2019 Wisconsin Act 185 but that expired with the termination
of the state of emergency related to public health declared on March 12, 2020, by the
governor.
Liability insurance for physicians and nurse anesthetists
The bill specifies that, before January 1, 2022, a physician or nurse anesthetist
for whom Wisconsin is not a principal place of practice but who is temporarily
authorized to practice in Wisconsin may fulfill financial responsibility requirements
by filing with the commissioner of insurance a certificate of insurance for a policy of
health care liability insurance issued by an insurer authorized in a certain
jurisdiction specified in the bill. Additionally, under those same circumstances, the
physician or nurse anesthetist may elect to be covered by Wisconsin's health care
liability laws.
Out-of-network costs related to health coverage
The bill prohibits, through December 31, 2021, a defined network plan,
including a health maintenance organization, or preferred provider plan from
requiring an enrollee of the plan to pay more for a service, treatment, or supply
provided by an out-of-network provider than if the service, treatment, or supply is
provided by an in-network provider. This prohibition applies to any service,
treatment, or supply that is related to the diagnosis of or treatment for COVID-19
and that is provided by an out-of-network provider because a participating provider
is unavailable due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For a service, treatment, or supply
provided under those circumstances, the bill requires the plan to reimburse the
out-of-network provider at 250 percent of the federal Medicare program rate. Also,
under those circumstances, any health care provider or facility that provides a
service, treatment, or supply to an enrollee of a plan but is not a participating
provider of that plan shall accept as payment in full any payment by a plan that is
at least 250 percent of the federal Medicare program rate and may not charge the
enrollee an amount that exceeds the amount that the provider or facility is
reimbursed by the plan. Similar prohibitions and requirements were created in
2019
Wisconsin Act 185, except that the reimbursement rate in Act 185 for an
out-of-network provider was 225 percent of the federal Medicare program rate. The
Act 185 prohibitions and requirements applied only during the state of emergency
related to public health declared on March 12, 2020, and for 60 days following the
termination of that state of emergency.
Coverage of COVID-19 related costs without cost sharing
The bill requires every health insurance policy and every self-insured
governmental health plan that generally covers testing for and treatment of
infectious disease to provide coverage of testing for, diagnosis and treatment of, and
administration of any vaccination developed to prevent COVID-19 without
imposing any copayment or coinsurance. This requirement applies through
December 31, 2021. A health insurance policy is referred to in the bill as a disability
insurance policy. Current law requires health insurance policies and self-insured
governmental health plans to cover, until March 13, 2021, testing for COVID-19
without imposing any copayment or coinsurance.
Insurance coverage for health care workers
The bill requires every health insurance policy and every self-insured
governmental health plan that generally covers testing for and treatment of
infectious disease to provide coverage of testing for and treatment of COVID-19 or
any other communicable disease for a frontline health care worker who has been
diagnosed with or is under investigation of having COVID-19 or any other
communicable disease without imposing any copayment or coinsurance. A health
insurance policy is referred to in the bill as a disability insurance policy. For purposes
of required insurance coverage, the treatment that must be covered is any treatment
that is medically necessary and reasonably related to COVID-19 or any other
communicable disease or complications from COVID-19 or other communicable
disease.
Coverage parity for telehealth services
The bill prohibits a health insurance policy or a self-insured health plan of the
state or a county, city, village, town, or school district from denying coverage for a
treatment or service provided through telehealth if that treatment or service is
covered under the policy or plan when provided in person by a health care provider.
This prohibition applies through December 31, 2021. Health insurance policies are
known as disability insurance policies in the bill. Telehealth is a practice of health
care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, or transfer of medically relevant
data by means of audio, video, or data communications that are used either during
a patient visit or a consultation or are used to transfer medically relevant data about
a patient.
safety and professional services
Optional licensure of third-party logistics providers
The bill creates an optional license for third-party logistics providers that are
located in the state or are located outside the state but provide third-party logistics
provider services in the state. A third-party logistics provider is defined under
current law as a person that contracts with a prescription drug manufacturer to
provide or coordinate warehousing, distribution, or other services on behalf of the
manufacturer but that does not take title to the manufacturer's prescription drug or
have general responsibility to direct the prescription drug's sale or disposition.
The bill requires an applicant for a third-party logistics provider license to
submit certain information prior to licensure, including proof of a recent facility
inspection, and a personal statement relating to a designated representative of the
facility. The license created by the bill will no longer apply if the federal Food and
Drug Administration establishes a licensing program for third-party logistics
providers under federal law and the Pharmacy Examining Board determines that
state licensure is not required for a resident third-party logistics provider to provide
third-party logistics services in another state.
The bill also directs the Pharmacy Examining Board to promulgate rules that
regulate third-party logistics providers and out-of-state third-party logistics
providers consistent with federal law. The authority of the Pharmacy Examining
Board to promulgate rules is restricted to only rules that are equivalent to
requirements under federal law and only rules that do not mandate licensing under
state law.
Finally, the bill requires the Pharmacy Examining Board to issue interim
licenses for third-party logistics providers and out-of-state third-party logistics
providers between the date of enactment until permanent or emergency rules take
effect, whichever is sooner, if, in the opinion of the board, the applicant is currently
in compliance with federal law relating to third-party logistics providers. An
interim license to act as a third-party logistics provider or out-of-state third-party
logistics provider expires 90 days after the date that emergency rules take effect or
90 days after the date that permanent rules take effect, whichever is sooner. No fee
is required for an interim license to act as a third-party logistics provider or an
out-of-state third-party logistics provider.
retirement and group insurance
Wisconsin Retirement System annuities for critical workers
Under current law, certain people who receive a retirement or disability
annuity from the Wisconsin Retirement System and who are hired by an employer
that participates in the WRS must suspend that annuity and may not receive a WRS
annuity payment until the person is no longer in a WRS-covered position. This
suspension applies to a person who 1) has reached his or her normal retirement date;
2) is appointed to a position with a WRS-participating employer, or provides
employee services as a contractor to a WRS-participating employer; and 3) is
expected to work at least two-thirds of what is considered full-time employment by
the Department of Employee Trust Funds.
The bill creates an exception to this suspension if 1) the person is either hired
or provides employee services as a contractor in a critical position during the period
beginning on the effective date of the bill and ending on December 31, 2021; 2) at the
time the person initially retires from covered employment with a participating
employer, the person does not have an agreement with any participating employer
to return to employment; and 3) the person elects to not become a participating
employee at the time the person is rehired or enters into a contract after retirement.
In other words, the bill allows a WRS annuitant who is either hired or provides
employee services as a contractor in a critical position during the period beginning
on the effective date of the bill and ending on December 31, 2021, to return to work
with an employer who participates in the WRS and continue to receive his or her
annuity.
State government
Waiving in-person requirements
Current law allows a state entity to waive any requirement that an individual
appear in person during the public health emergency declared on March 12, 2020.
The bill expands that provision so that a state entity may waive such in-person
requirements through December 31, 2021, if enforcing the requirement would
increase the public health risk.
Waiver of certain interest, penalties, and payments
Under the bill, each state agency and authority and each local governmental
unit may waive any interest, penalty, or payment that accrues or becomes due
beginning on the day the bill becomes law and ending on December 31, 2021, with
respect to a debt any person owes to the agency, authority, or local unit of
government.
COVID-19 testing and surge capacity
The bill requires DOA to do all of the following related to COVID-19:
1. Facilitate COVID-19 testing and diagnosis throughout this state.
2. Operate alternate care facilities staffed by health care professionals for
patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
3. Facilitate surge staffing resources for health care facilities throughout the
state.
Grants to small businesses
The bill authorizes the Department of Revenue to provide grants to small
businesses in the manner to be determined by DOR.
This proposal may contain a health insurance mandate requiring a social and
financial impact report under s. 601.423, stats.
