Expanding eligibility for the earned income tax credit; hospital best practices for postpartum patients and newborns; hospital staff privileges and written agreements required for nurse-midwives; coverage of nurse-midwives under the injured patients and families compensation fund; a report on information related to hospital neonatal intensive care units; an electronic application and information system to determine eligibility and register for public assistance programs; directing the Department of Health Services to request a Medical Assistance waiver; evidence-based home visitation program services for persons who are at risk of poor birth outcomes or of abusing or neglecting their children; designating race and ethnicity on birth certificates; a report on fetal and infant mortality and birth outcomes; requiring informed consent for performance on pregnant women of certain elective procedures prior to the full gestational term of a fetus; cultural competency training for certain students enrolled in the University of Wisconsin System and the technical college system; granting rule-making authority; and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. (FE)

Under federal law, the earned income tax credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit for low-income workers. If the amount of the claim exceeds the worker's tax liability, the claimant receives a check for the excess amount from the Internal Revenue Service. The amount of the credit for which a claimant is eligible is based, in part, on the claimant's filing status and whether the claimant has no qualifying children, one qualifying child, or more than one qualifying child.

Under current law, the refundable Wisconsin EITC may be claimed in an amount equal to a certain percentage of the federal EITC. To be eligible for the Wisconsin EITC, an individual must have one or more qualifying children who have the same principal place of abode as the claimant.

Under this bill, an individual may claim the Wisconsin EITC even if, with regard to the child about whom the claim is made, the child does not have the same principal place of abode as the claimant and even if another person claims the federal and Wisconsin credits for that child, provided that the claimant meets a statutory definition of "parent" with respect to that child and provided that the claimant is subject to and in compliance with a child support order with respect to that child.

Written agreements required for nurse-midwives Under current law, the Board of Nursing licenses nurse-midwives.

Nurse-midwives are health care professionals authorized to practice nurse-midwifery, which is defined as the management of women's health care, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum care for newborns, family planning, and gynecological services consistent with the standards of practice of the American College of Nurse-Midwives and the education, training, and experience of the nurse-midwife.

A nurse-midwife may only practice nurse-midwifery in a health care facility approved by the Board of Nursing, in collaboration with a physician with postgraduate training in obstetrics, and pursuant to a written agreement with that physician. A nurse-midwife who discovers evidence that any aspect of care involves any complication that jeopardizes the health or life of a newborn or mother (serious complication) must consult with the collaborating physician or the collaborating physician's designee, or make a referral as specified in the written agreement with the collaborating physician.

This bill does the following with respect to these provisions governing nurse-midwives:

1. Eliminates the restriction providing that a nurse-midwife may only practice in collaboration with a physician with postgraduate training in obstetrics.

2. Provides that, in the case of a serious complication, the nurse-midwife must instead consult with a qualified health care professional, as defined in the bill, or make a referral.

Hospital staff privileges for nurse-midwives and coverage of nurse-midwives under the injured patients and families compensation fund Under current law, certain health care providers (covered health care providers), who meet certain criteria, are covered by the injured patients and families compensation fund (fund) for claims for damages for bodily injury or death due to acts or omissions of those covered health care providers. Any claims filed against a covered health care provider must follow the procedures and are subject to the restrictions in current law.

Covered health care providers, under current law, are required to maintain certain liability insurance or to qualify as a self-insurer. The insurance policy under which a covered health care provider is covered must meet certain requirements under current law. If the covered health care provider satisfies the requirements of current law, he or she is liable for malpractice for no more than the prescribed limits of a self-insured covered health care provider or no more than the maximum liability limit for which the covered health care provider is insured. The fund pays any portion of a medical malpractice claim against a covered health care provider that is in excess of the self-insured limits or the liability insurance limit, except if the damages for injury or death are caused by an intentional crime. Covered health care providers pay an annual assessment, which is deposited in the fund.

The bill adds nurse-midwives to the law pertaining to the fund and to the malpractice claims, and therefore, under the bill, nurse-midwives are covered by the fund and are subject to the restrictions to be covered by the fund.

The bill allows a hospital to grant to a licensed nurse-midwife who is covered under the injured patients and families compensation fund any hospital staff privilege that a hospital must afford to licensed physicians or podiatrists, including hospital staff privileges to admit, treat, and discharge any patient for whom a nurse-midwife is qualified to provide care.

Statewide systems for public assistance programs Currently, DHS administers an electronic application and information system that enables a person to determine his or her eligibility for and register for multiple public assistance programs, including BadgerCare Plus, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, and FoodShare. This bill requires DHS to expand the current electronic application and information system to include information regarding all programs designed to assist low-income persons, including housing assistance, rental assistance, and temporary child care assistance.

The bill also requires DHS to develop a statewide electronic data management and information system for all public assistance programs. Under the bill, the system must allow a person to register for multiple public assistance programs with a single application or registration. The system must also allow an administrator of a public assistance program to access data related to an individual that was previously collected for purposes of a different public assistance program. Finally, the system must provide automated individual care plans that identify service activities to address assessed risks and include a scheduling or referral component that identifies available providers for individuals' service needs.

Informed consent for certain elective caesarean section and labor-inducing procedures Under current law, a physician who treats a patient must inform the patient about the availability of all alternate, viable medical modes of treatment and about the benefits and risks of those treatments. A physician who violates this requirement is guilty of unprofessional conduct and may be subject to discipline by the Medical Examining Board (MEB), which may warn or reprimand the physician, or limit, suspend, or revoke his or her license to practice medicine and surgery.

Current law requires the MEB to promulgate rules implementing these informed consent requirements.

The bill specifically prohibits a physician from performing an elective caesarean section on a pregnant woman, and prohibits a physician or a nurse-midwife from performing an elective procedure intended to induce labor in a pregnant woman, before the completion of a gestational period of 39 weeks unless the physician has first obtained the informed consent of the woman. The bill provides that a woman's consent is informed only if she receives timely information orally and in person from the physician or nurse-midwife regarding potential negative effects to the fetus of early delivery, including long-term learning and behavioral problems.

Under the bill, a physician who violates the prohibition in the bill is guilty of unprofessional conduct and may be subject to the same disciplinary consequences as violations of the informed consent provisions under current law. The Board of Nursing may similarly revoke, limit, suspend, or deny renewal of the license of a nurse-midwife who violates the prohibition. The bill directs the MEB to promulgate rules implementing the provisions of the newly created prohibition and directs both the MEB and the Board of Nursing to promulgate rules defining "elective" for purposes of the prohibition in the bill.

Evidence-based home visitation services Under current law, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) administers the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Program under which DCF awards grants to counties, private agencies, and Indian tribes that offer voluntary home visitation services to parents who are eligible for MA and who are at risk of poor birth outcomes or of perpetrating child abuse or neglect. Current law requires a grant applicant to provide information on how the applicant's home visitation program incorporates: 1) practice standards that have been developed for home visitation programs by entities concerned with the prevention of poor birth outcomes and child abuse and neglect; and 2) practice standards and critical elements that have been developed for successful home visitation programs by a nationally recognized home visitation program model.

This bill specifies that home visitation program services provided by a county, private agency, or Indian tribe under a child abuse and neglect prevention grant from DCF must be evidence-based. The bill also requires DCF to enter into a memorandum of understanding with DHS that provides for collaboration between DCF and DHS in carrying out those evidence-based home visitation program services.

Neonatal intensive care unit reports The bill requires DHS to collect all of the following information from a hospital that has a neonatal intensive care unit: 1) the daily census of the neonatal intensive care unit; and 2) the criteria for admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. DHS must annually prepare a report that includes all of the information collected from hospitals from the previous calendar year. DHS must make the reports available to the public and post the report on its Internet site.

Best practices for postpartum patients and newborns at hospitals The bill requires DHS to promulgate rules requiring hospitals to ensure that best practices for postpartum patients and newborns are supported in the hospital, including rules that: 1) require hospitals to develop, for each postpartum patient, an appropriate discharge plan that ensures that, to the extent practicable, an appointment with a health care provider has been scheduled for the newborn within an appropriate time after discharge and that the postpartum patient is consulted and provided with assistance regarding health care resources and safe transportation for the newborn; 2) require, prior to discharge from the hospital, that education be provided, orally and in person, to each postpartum patient on certain topics; and 3) require that health care providers, including physicians, recommend and actively support breastfeeding for all newborns for whom breastfeeding is not medically contraindicated; provide parents with complete, up-to-date information to ensure that feeding decisions are fully informed; and provide, upon a parent's request, referrals to lactation specialists or public health nurses for home visits.

Cultural competency training for students at higher educational institutions The bill directs the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and the Technical College System Board to ensure that students enrolled in health care or social work programs receive training in cultural competency to improve patient-centered care.

Indication of race on birth certificates The bill requires a birth certificate to include the race and ethnicity of the child, as reported by the mother of the registrant, and requires DHS to promulgate rules establishing designations of race and ethnicity to be used for reporting race and ethnicity. The bill provides that the designations must be sufficiently detailed to enable compilation and analysis of data related to births and birth outcomes among all significant racial and ethnic populations in the state and to assist in the design and evaluation of programs and policies designed to improve birth outcomes. In addition, the rules must establish procedures to ensure that the racial and ethnic designations included on each certificate of birth accurately reflect the race and ethnicity of the registrant as directly reported by the child's mother.

Fetal and infant mortality and birth outcome report The bill requires DHS to annually prepare a report relating to fetal and infant mortality and birth outcomes in this state. The report must include data related to births and birth outcomes in this state in the previous calendar year and an analysis of that data. DHS must collaborate with local health departments, tribes, and other interested parties about the data and the report. DHS must ensure that the report, to the greatest extent possible, includes data and analysis that are necessary and useful for the development and evaluation of programs to address disparities in birth outcomes among racial and ethnic groups in this state and must periodically consult with interested parties to review and update the data and analysis to be included in the report as needed to ensure that this goal continues to be met.

DHS must include certain specified information about infant births and deaths in the annual report and must, in collaboration with the aforementioned persons and entities, consider including in the report data related to the type of prenatal care, if any, received by the mother of each infant whose birth data is included in the report.

DHS must annually submit the report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature; post the report on its Internet site; and post, on its Internet site, the raw data used for the report in a manner that does not disclose or enable the identification of any individual infant, mother, or birth attendant.

Finally, DHS must explore whether any of the costs of collecting the data and creating the annual report may be funded by the MA program.