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New bill would remove personal conviction exemption from child vaccination laws

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A bipartisan group of legislators is looking to remove the Personal Conviction exemption from vaccine requirements.

State Representative Lisa Subeck says there’s just too many people preventing their children from getting vaccines. 

“Over the last 20 years, we’ve gone from just one percent of families opting their children out of vaccines, to now more than five percent of Wisconsin children opting out of vaccinations.”

That’s more than double the national average, and Subeck says that puts the state at a severe risk of losing basic group immunities to entirely preventable diseases. Subeck says social media hoaxes are somewhat to blame for the rise unvaccinated children.

“These days it’s been harder and harder for people filter out misinformation from real information, and as a result more people are opting out out of fear, and that needs to stop.” The bill would still allow exemptions for religious reasons, and for children who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Late season flu spike in Wisconsin

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It’s still flu season in Wisconsin. Public health officials say they’re seeing a spike in late-season flu cases. An increasing number of those cases involve a strain of the flu virus that this season’s vaccine is ineffective against.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services recommends the usual precautions, such as washing your hands.There have been 36 influenza-related deaths in Wisconsin this season.

Kaul announces Wisconsin joining opioid distribution investigation

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Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is joining a multistate investigation into three opioid distributors. It began in 2017 in response to the opioid epidemic that’s resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.

Kaul’s office announced Monday that the state DOJ is joining the effort to determine whether distribution practices of the three firms – that control about 90 percent of the country’s opioid supply – may have worsened the epidemic. The firms are AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.

Madison Water shuts well amid contamination concerns

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Madison’s water utility shuts down a North Side well contaminated with toxic chemicals. An announcement from the water utility said it expects the well to come back on line this summer, after state public health officials determine potential health hazards of water contaminated with per-and poly-fluoroalkyls, known by the acronym PFAS.

A spokeswoman said temporarily using other wells may give families in the Well 15 service area some peace of mind. Truax Air National Guard base about a mile north of well 15 is the likely source. A full investigation and cleanup has yet to be scheduled because of budget constraints. PFAS is an ingredient in firefighting foam.

Evers and GOP leaders remain at odds over Medicaid expansion

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Governor Tony Evers WRN image

A new study says Medicaid expansion will cost Wisconsin taxpayers $600 million per year. The findings by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and UW Economist Noah Williams are welcomed by Republican lawmakers like state Senator Duey Stroebel.

“Ultimately what it does to, is it moves more and more people to government insurance, and that . . . could ultimately end up as single payer, and then that becomes socialized medicine,” Stroebel said Tuesday.

Democratic Governor Tony Evers said he thinks Republican lawmakers’ opposition to accepting the federal Medicaid expansion is based on anti-federal government feelings and and opposition to the Affordable Care Act. Evers plans to do that in his upcoming budget proposal.

“We will take this directly to the people of Wisconsin. Once this budget is released, we’ll be going around the state talking about this issue,” the governor said. “The number of people that we have to convince outside of the legislature I think are very few.”
Republican legislative leaders are opposed to taking federal money to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin, but Governor Tony Evers plans to do that in his upcoming budget proposal

Wisconsin is one of more than a dozen states that have not taken federal funding to expand Medicaid to people who make up to 133 percent of the poverty level. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, doing so would have saved the state more than one billion dollars from 2014 through 2019.

The governor and proponents of Medicaid expansion have claimed it could make Medicaid available to more than 75,000 low-income residents while saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

U.S. attorneys issue letters to opioid prescribers in Wisconsin

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A warning to medical professionals who prescribe opoioids to their patients. The U.S. Attorneys in Wisconsin have sent letters to over 180 physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners advising that a review of their prescribing practices showed that they were prescribing opioids at relatively high levels compared to other prescribers.


Although the letters acknowledge that the prescriptions may be medically appropriate, they remind the practitioners that prescribing opioids without a legitimate medical purpose could subject them to enforcement action, including criminal prosecution. Names of the letter recipients are not not being made public.

Rep. Gwen Moore treated for cancer

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Congresswoman Gwen Moore says she’s beaten cancer and is ready to fight for medical coverage for Wisconsinites. The Milwaukee Democrat announced on Tuesday that her Small Cell Lymphoma has gone into remission after 10 months of treatment.

Moore said that the high quality health care she gets as a member of Congress made that possible, but that Republicans have done a lot to try and deny that sort of coverage to Americans. Moore said she’s going to fight for essential health benefits for people so that everyone can have a healthy productive life.

Assembly approves preexisting conditions protections

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The future of legislation to protect people in Wisconsin who have preexisting medical conditions remains unclear. The state Assembly passed a bill on a bipartisan vote Tuesday that does three things, in the event the Affordable Care Act is ever repealed.

It prevents denying individuals insurance coverage because of a preexisting condition, something known a guaranteed issue. It prevents refusing to cover services that people need to treat a preexisting condition. And it prevents charging a higher premium based on a person’s health status.

The bill was amended by Assembly Republicans based on a meeting that Speaker Robin Vos and state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald had with Democratic Governor Tony Evers last week. The bill does not include essential health benefits, which Evers also wanted.

“These things (essential health benefits) have nothing to do with preexisting conditions,” Vos said prior to Tuesday’s vote. “For eight years, Democrats have been nothing but 24/7 bomb throwers, always trying to figure a reason that a deal should break apart. Now they have to actually sit at the table and negotiate, and give.”

At least some Democrats were willing to give this bill their votes – it passed on a bipartisan 76-19 vote. However, Governor Evers has already signaled he won’t support the bill. He tweeted while it was still being debated that it “would offer less benefits for fewer people.”

Governor Evers promises to continue push for Medicaid expansion

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Wisconsin’s new governor says he’s going to fight for Medicaid expansion despite the protests of the Republican majority in the legislature.

Governor Tony Evers says it’s an issue that touches every community in the state. “Every small town in Wisconsin has some facility that’s healthcare related. Whether it’s a clinic, whether it’s a small hospital, whether it’s a doctor’s office.”

He says he has got the backing of both the people of the state and the medical field. “The people that are using the facilities and work in those facilities support our position on that.”

Evers says the expansion will help people across Wisconsin get the health coverage they need. “I understand that they said that it’s a non-starter. We’re not going to, you know, burn the Capital down, We’re going to disagree. If that is their position, than we will disagree.”

Evers met with all of the Legislative caucuses on Tuesday in order to present his goals for the session.

 

Wisconsin smoking rate remains above national average

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Wisconsin’s adult smoking rate continues to decline. But it’s still above the national rate of 14 percent. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the overall smoking rate was 16 percent in 2017, a drop from 21 percent in 2011.

Native American and African-American residents continue to smoke at much higher rates, 37 and 28 percent, respectively. And low income adults, adults who did not graduate from high school, and those diagnosed with depression also smoke at higher rates.

For free assistance and a customized quit plan, call the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT NOW.