Affordable and Safe Healthcare
Healthcare in Wisconsin should be accessible, affordable, and high quality. This session I was honored to receive two awards for my legislative work.
“Early Life Saver Award”
Presented by the Early Detection Saves Lives Coalition for my exemplary leadership and dedication in promoting policy that enhances access to supplemental and diagnostic breast examination for those at increased risk of cancer.
“Friend of Family Medicine” award
Presented by the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians for going above and beyond to promote effective healthcare policy and support family medicine in Wisconsin.
I also introduced and supported legislation to expand Medicaid, lower the cost of prescription drugs, improve maternal and infant health outcomes, and co-sponsored the reintroduction of postpartum Medicaid expansion.
Restore Reproductive Healthcare
The government should not be in our doctor’s offices–government has gotten far too big when it is making our medical decisions for us. I trust my constituents to make their own medical decisions, and I will continue to stand up for your right to do just that!
Roe v. Wade
After the fall of Roe v. Wade, I joined my Democratic colleagues to introduce the Restore Roe Act to repeal Wisconsin’s archaic 1849 criminal abortion ban and enshrine the protections of Roe into state law.
Latest Republican Abortion Ban
This session, Republicans refused to take up the Restore Roe Act and instead introduced yet another abortion ban– introduced with no exceptions for rape or incest. My opponent not only voted for this abortion ban, he co-sponsored it.
Forward Together
We must live and legislate with empathy and compassion, and in this case that means overturning the archaic, dangerous, and unjust ban that went into effect when Roe v. Wade fell, and Restore Roe.
Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs
No family should have to make the impossible choice between buying their life-saving medication or paying for groceries. I introduced legislation to make epinephrine, like EpiPens, more affordable and accessible, and supported legislation to improve transparency of prescription drug costs.
Mental Healthcare
I am the proud author of the Mental Healthcare is Healthcare package of legislation–10 bills to increase the number of BIPOC mental health professionals in schools; invest in expanding the school mental health workforce; training to help LGBTQIA+ students; and support mental healthcare access for K-12 students, UW students, veterans, and more.
Serving as the Ranking Member on the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Prevention, the mental health needs of our children, our families, our teachers, our healthcare workers, our veterans, ourselves, our employees, and more, are of tremendous importance to me, and I continue to work on future legislation to address these needs.
Governor Evers declared 2023 as the “Year of Mental Health”. I hear often from constituents how important mental health is in each of our lives–I know the state needs to act, and act swiftly, to better care for Wisconsinites.
Mental healthcare is healthcare.
Maternal Health
I support legislation to improve maternal and infant health outcomes and reduce health outcome disparities for women and babies of color. I supported the Healthy Women, Healthy Babies initiatives in Governor Evers’ proposed budget last budget cycle, which included funding for doula training and Medicaid reimbursement for doula services, extending Medicaid coverage postpartum to one-year, and funding for maternal and infant mortality prevention. I recently published an op-ed calling on legislative Republicans to schedule a vote on postpartum Medicaid expansion, and you can read that here.
After maternal health health initiatives continued to be ignored in the legislature, I introduced and passed a bipartisan resolution in the Assembly to proclaim May 2023 as Maternal Health Month in Wisconsin, bringing attention to the health, well-being, and value of Wisconsin mothers.
Reducing Premiums & Expanding Medicaid
The people of Wisconsin want Medicaid expansion because it is the moral and fiscally responsible decision. I co-authored the bill to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin because it is the right thing to do. 40 other states–red, purple and blue–have already expanded Medicaid. It will expand healthcare coverage for about 90,000 Wisconsinites and is expected to generate $1.6 billion in savings. It’s time to bring our federal tax dollars home to support the people of Wisconsin.
Support Our Healthcare Heroes
I introduced the Healthcare Heroes Act to provide hazard pay, paid sick leave, and healthcare coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment to frontline healthcare workers during this pandemic. It’s the job of healthcare workers to take care of us, and we need to do our job and take care of them.