Local hospitals ask the State Senate to ensure legislation relieving hospital capacity concerns passes

Local hospitals are asking the State Senate to ensure legislation aimed at relieving hospital capacity concerns passes before the end of the upcoming legislative session.

According to data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA), one of the most significant reasons hospital emergency departments face patient backlogs is due to delays in other patients being transferred to post-acute care facilities.

The state legislature could immediately help to address hospital capacity concerns by passing Assembly Bill 598 through the Senate, legislation that would make it easier for incapacitated patients to receive appropriate post-acute care. Many families, including spouses, do not realize that without a pre-established medical power of attorney they are unable to assist their incapacitated loved ones when they need to be transferred from an acute-care hospital to a post-acute care rehab facility.

Assembly Bill 598, often referred to as “next of kin” legislation, would allow for family members, including spouses, to have limited authority to make necessary patient care decisions without waiting weeks or months, and spending thousands of dollars, for a court to determine guardianship.

In the next two weeks, the Wisconsin State Senate is set to have its final floor period before the legislature adjourns. The Assembly passed Assembly Bill 598 with overwhelming bipartisan support in mid-February and the Governor has committed to sign the legislation into law, if passed.

To learn more visit WHA’s website at wha.org/advocacy/key-issues/n/next-of-kin-legislation.

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