Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Health / Medicine

Bill would help cover costs for women at increased risk for breast cancer

By

Proposed legislation would help cover costs for Wisconsin women at increased risk for breast cancer. The bill from state Senator Rachel Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton) requires health insurance policies to provide additional coverage for the 40% of women with dense breast tissue, where a mammogram alone may not be enough.

“This piece of legislation, I feel is essential for the health of Wisconsin, for the health of our families, and for early detection,” the lawmaker said. “Screenings, particularly breast cancer screenings are important for everybody. We all have important females in our lives that have been impacted in some way.”

Cabral-Guevara said out of pocket expenses for women with dense breast tissue can be prohibitively expensive. Her measure has bipartisan support.

DHS implementing next phase of 988 lifeline plan

By

Implementation of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in Wisconsin is moving to its next phase. A year-long, multimedia campaign aims to make sure all state residents know this free and confidential service is here.

Department of Health Services Crisis Services Coordinator Caroline Crehan Neumann said the message is simple. “If you are in a mental health or substance use crisis you can call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org/chat/.”

“We’ll be pushing out animated ads, static ads, commercials with video and audio and the main message is that there is help if you are going through a mental health or substance use crisis,” Crehan Neumann explained, adding that the effort will include reaching groups at higher risk of suicide, such as LGBTQ+ communities, men from  ages 45 to 54 and Native Americans. “Nobody is excluded from experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis so that’s why the campaign is statewide and we’re trying to target as many people as we can.”

Anyone, anywhere in the state can call, text or chat 24/7 to reach a trained counselor.

DHS reports multiple toxic shock syndrome cases for first time since 2011

By

The state is seeing multiple cases of toxic shock syndrome for the first time in over a decade. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported 5 cases since last July. Four of those cases are associated with use of super absorbency tampons by teenage girls. all four girls were hospitalized but have since recovered. The fifth case was a surgical wound infection.

Wisconsin hasn’t had amore than a single case of TSS reported in any year since 2011, when there were two. “We think it’s a good reminder that people should be aware of this condition and know about it both clinicians and people who use tampons that this is a risk,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer with the Department of Health Services.

Toxic shock syndrome is described as a rare bacterial infection that can be caused by skin wounds, surgery, and the use of feminine products, like super absorbency tampons. It can also be life threatening. Symptoms include sudden fever, rash, vomiting, confusion, seizures, and headaches, among others.

Bipartisan bill aims to help with prescription drug costs

By

Sen. Andre Jacques

Proposed legislation would require Wisconsin insurance plans and pharmacy benefits managers to accept co-pay assistance towards annual drug co-pay totals.

During a Capitol press conference on Tuesday, patient advocate J.P. Summers said that financial assistance from some sources doesn’t count towards their drug deductibles. “It’s not fair for the insurance companies to accept these funds, use them up and then still expect the patient like myself to keep paying their deductible.”

Patient Deb Constantine said insurers are accepting those payments – and then billing patients again. “These policies require patients to pay the same amount twice, to get closer to their annual out of pocket limit or annual deductibles.”

The bill’s author, state Senator Andre Jacques (R-DePere) was asked what he’d say to insurers and pharmacy benefits managers that may object to the legislation.

“Well, I think I would say you already got your money,” Jacques said. “That’s kind of what we’re talking about here. I mean, it’s almost like a riddle you would tell your kids – when is a dollar not a dollar?. When somebody says that it’s not even though they pocketed it already.”

Jacques said measures banning the practice have been implemented in 14 other states, and Representative Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) said they’ve been effective. “And the sky has not fallen. Insurance companies haven’t gone out of business, pharmacy benefit managers are still in place. And those costs to the patients for those insurance products have not gone up. So I think we have evidence that this works.”

 

Evers appoints Kirsten Johnson to lead Wisconsin Department of Health Services

By

Governor Tony Evers has appointed Kirsten Johnson to lead the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Johnson’s appointment as DHS Secretary fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Karen Timberlake in December.

Johnson, who served as Milwaukee Health Commissioner for two years until resigning last month, will be the third DHS Secretary for the Evers administration. Andrea Palm left in January 2021 to take a post in the Biden administration.

Both Palm and Timberlake served as secretary-designee, as neither was confirmed by the Republican controlled state Senate. Johnson will assume the role effective February 27th. Prior to her service in Milwaukee, Johnson led the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department for more than a decade.     

Atrium Health and Senior Living CEO faces federal fraud charges

By

The CEO of a company that operated skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in Wisconsin faces multiple federal charges. Fifty-six year-old Kevin Breslin of Hoboken, New Jersey operated 24 facilities in the state as CEO of Atrium Health and Senior Living.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted Breslin and Atrium on charges of health care fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit tax fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The indictment alleges a scheme to divert Medicare and Medicaid funds from the facilities operated from January 2015 to September 2018, and resulted in inadequate resident care, including a lack of necessary supplies and lack of medical equipment.

DHS immunization updates for kids in childcare centers and schools

By

Kids in Wisconsin schools and childcare centers will now only be exempt from the chickenpox vaccine if a previous case was confirmed by a healthcare provider.

Dr. Ryan Westergaard is chief medical officer with the Bureau of Communicable Diseases. “There’s less general knowledge of what a chickenpox illness looks like. As times have changed it’s important to make sure. And so the rationale for having the providers test of a qualified health provider is to make sure that we’re making decisions based on the best best information.”

The state Department of Health Services has new immunization updates for children, which follow federal recommendations and other states to protect communities against vaccine-preventable diseases. You can view a summary of the updates here.

State Senate Natural Resources Committee gets PFAS update

By

Members of the Wisconsin Senate received more information about PFAS contamination in a Tuesday hearing at the Capitol in Madison. University of Wisconsin researcher Dr. Christy Remucal told lawmakers that most of Wisconsin’s contamination still stems from one source.

“Researchers have shown firefighting foam is one of the major sources of contamination and so my I think that’s probably the most likely source in this region as well.”

Remucal said there’s a reason why cleanup of PFAs contamination remains challenging and expensive. “We have a lot of different water treatment methods; engineered water treatment methods, and none of our usual approaches work on these chemicals. There’s not currently a good disruptive technology for PFAS. The good news is that there is a ton of research going on, both in the US and across the world on trying to come up with a better way to destroy these chemicals. But we’re not quite there yet.”

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has signed a bill in 2020, regulating firefighting foams which contain PFAS. The chemicals are found in many products, but the foam is a major source of contamination. Once in the water supply, the chemical compounds don’t break down. That can result in the human health issues, and damage to the ecosystems they contaminate.

DHS seeks public input on opioid settlement spending

By

The Department of Health Services will be getting another 8 million dollars in funding from a series of settlements from opioid drug manufacturers.

Director of Opioid Initiatives Paul Krupski says they’re asking for public input on how best to spend that funding. 

“We are really at the process right now of that data gathering, and making sure that we have everything we need to really look and determine what the best ways of using this funding would be or the best ways to propose that to the legislature for their consideration and approval.”

The department had over 30 million dollars to work with last year and used it to help the state’s tribes and to improve drug treatment facilities. Krupski says any choices that are made by DHS will have to be approved by the legislature’s Republican-controlled joint finance committee.

“Last year’s plan, they ended up approving about 85% of what the Department of Health Services proposed. And they made a few you know, a few alterations in there as well.”

You can find that survey online HERE: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7165956/Opioid-Litigation-Public-Input-2023

Wisconsin DOJ offers school safety training

By

The Wisconsin Department of Justice will offer school safety training to all Wisconsin schools. The training, which will be led by the Office of School Safety, will help school staff to put a plan in place for school crises and get kids back to their parents and guardians following an event, according to a media release.

Attorney General Josh Kaul calls the training part of an ongoing, proactive effort to give schools the tools they need to keep kids safe. The training, which can be used in a range of situations, will reduce stress during a crisis, according to DOJ.

More than $2 million in federal grants and more than $1.8 million from the American Rescue Plan Act has been set aside to fund the training.