MADISON – Bills that would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for mothers and require insurance to cover additional cancer screenings for women with dense breast tissue are expected to pass the Assembly in votes scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19.
Both pieces of legislation seemed fated to languish in the Assembly as the chamber concludes its work this week, despite strong bipartisan support, including from Gov. Tony Evers.
The bills are now expected to pass with no changes and be sent to Evers for his signature next week, Rep. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, told reporters late Wednesday night.
The shift followed hours of discussions among Republican lawmakers, a publicized push by Democrats and years of advocacy on both issues. Novak said it took “a big group” to persuade the hold-outs – chief among them Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester.
“Robin is a tough negotiator, and he really felt what we were saying today,” Novak said.
“I’ve been here long enough to know making legislation sometimes isn’t pretty, and it took a long time, it took compromise, it took a lot of people coming together, and we got there,” said Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, who called Republicans into caucus Wednesday afternoon.
The Assembly was scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. It did not convene until after 10 p.m.
Vos declined to answer questions when approached by reporters immediately after the GOP lawmakers’ news conference.
He had previously said he believed federal legislation had already taken care of the screening issue, and has consistently reiterated his opposition to the postpartum Medicaid bill, saying he does not support expanding welfare programs.
Assembly Democrats have attempted to bring the Medicaid extension bill to the floor with procedural maneuvers this year, and told reporters Wednesday afternoon they planned to introduce amendments adding it and Gail’s Law to every bill on the calendar.
“We have a responsibility to our constituents and the women of this state whose lives depend on these policies being passed, and so we were going to stop at nothing to get a vote on these bills,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, told reporters after their Republicans’ colleagues’ announcement.
Neubauer shared earlier in the day that she and her husband are expecting their first child in June, and also shared her family’s history of breast cancer. While she is lucky to have access to health care, she said, “so many women across the state do not have access to health care in those critical moments.”
Several Republican lawmakers shared with reporters stories of women in their lives who have been affected by breast cancer, postpartum depression and other issues the legislation would address.
Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, shared that his wife, Kathy, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2022, which spread to her lungs and other parts of her body. Donovan said they have wondered if access to additional screenings would have made a difference for her.
“Gail’s Law,” which would require insurance companies to cover the cost of an additional MRI or ultrasound to check for cancer, caused concerns among some Republicans relating to mandates on insurers.
The bill passed the Senate nearly unanimously, with only one Republican, Sen. Chris Kapenga of Delafield, voting against it. It’s named for Gail Zeamer of Neenah, who was diagnosed with late-stage cancer after doctors refused to have further screening done when it was discovered she had dense breast tissue. By the time doctors found the tumor, the cancer had spread to her brain.
She died at the age of 56 in June 2024, after an eight-year battle with cancer.
The postpartum Medicaid proposal, which also passed the Senate 32-1 with Kapenga voting against it, would allow low-income mothers who make more than the poverty level to stay on BadgerCare Plus, the state’s largest Medicaid program, for a full year after giving birth, instead of only two months.
Wisconsin is one of only two states that do not offer a full year of Medicaid coverage to certain low-income mothers after they give birth.
For months after giving birth, women are still at risk for a range of life-threatening, post-pregnancy complications, including heart conditions, clotting disorders, postpartum depression and more.
Rep. Patrick Snyder, R-Weston, who authored the Assembly’s postpartum Medicaid bill, said he was “very angry” at Democratic lawmakers’ tactics, saying he’d told them he was close to getting it scheduled for a vote.
“Then they threw this crap at us today, and almost blew it up. I’m in it for the women that need this protection; they’re in it for politics, and that’s sickening,” Snyder said.
Asked about Snyder’s frustration, Neubauer said Democrats have heard “for years” that Republicans were close to a compromise on the issue.
“It seems that the bills are going to the floor after years of Pat Snyder telling us that these bills were going to be passed and them not being passed,” Neubauer said. “So it does seem like our actions made a difference.”
Rep. Shannon Zimmerman, R-River Falls. argued “the most important thing is the outcome, and the outcome that we have reached today is one that will have a positive impact on the lives of many in the state of Wisconsin.”
“For anybody who believes that we go into these sessions with closed minds – tonight is proof that minds can be shifted, people can change, they can open themselves up to new facts, so compromise can be reached,” Zimmerman said.
Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Assembly to advance postpartum Medicaid, breast cancer screening bills
Reporting by Jessie Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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