Valued Voice

On February 11, WHA joined the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC) with a group of rural hospital and health care leaders to urge Wisconsin’s Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill to support Wisconsin’s rural health care priorities.

Joining the group were Jon Eich, Director of the WI Office of Rural Health; Bob Van Meeteren, President and CEO, Reedsburg Area Medical Center; Chris Brophy, CEO of Crossing Rivers Health Medical Center, Prairie du Chien; Chris Brabant, President and CEO, Stoughton Health; Mike Schafer, CEO, Spooner Health; Dr. Michelle Clark-Forsting, MD, Chief Physician Executive, Black River Health; Brad Wolters, Director of Federal Government Relations, Marshfield Clinic Health System; Jeremy Levin, Director of Advocacy, RWHC; Jon Hoelter, Vice President of Federal and State Relations, WHA.

The group advocated for the following priorities:

• The importance of federal approval for Wisconsin Medicaid changes enacted in the most recent state budget.
• Requesting an exemption for Health Care from H-1B Visa new fees of $100,000. 
• Protecting the 340B prescription drug discount program from new restrictions like data reporting requirements requested by drug companies.

Thanking members of our Congressional Delegation for signing onto the Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act (currently cosponsored by Reps. Grothman, Moore, Pocan, and Van Orden and Senator Baldwin) and urging the rest of the delegation to do the same.

The group of rural health leaders also thanked Wisconsin's Congressional Delegation members for their support of recent legislation to fund the health care extenders package, including an extension of the Medicare-Dependent and Low-Volume Hospital Adjustment programs through the end of 2026, an extension of telehealth waivers through the end of 2027 and the extension of the Hospital at Home program through 2030.