MADISON – Rep. Dean Kaufert [R – Neenah] praised passage of two important bills for women’s health care he co-authored and championed in the Assembly – Gail’s Law and Expanding Postpartum Health Coverage for new moms from 60 days to a full 12 months.
“I was proud to co-author and champion these two important bills for women’s health care in Wisconsin and lead the effort to bring them to a floor vote in the Assembly,” Kaufert said. “These are bipartisan, commonsense bills that will save lives, protect new moms and children, and ensure that early breast cancer screenings for women are covered by health plans.”
Gail’s Law (SB 264/AB 263) is named after Gail Zeamer, a resident of Neenah, Wisconsin, and was inspired by Gail’s fight against breast cancer. It requires insurance companies to cover follow-up breast cancer screenings for women with dense breast tissue and other high-risk factors. It will eliminate co-pays for supplemental breast cancer screenings like MRIs and ultrasounds. Sadly, Gail lost her battle with cancer, but her family continued to advocate for Gail’s Law and they were able to be in the Assembly Gallery to see the bill pass this week.
The Postpartum Health Care Bill (SB 23/AB 97) extends BadgerCare health coverage for new moms from 60 days to a full 12 months postpartum period. This is a crucial step forward, both for maternal health and the health of newly born children in Wisconsin.
Rep. Kaufert was a co-author and supporter of both these important bills and played an instrumental role in working with legislative leadership to bring these bills to a vote in the Assembly. When it appeared these bills were not going to be on the calendar, Kaufert stepped in and called for a caucus discussion, where he led the effort by a group of legislators to work with Assembly leadership to ensure these two bills were taken up for a vote before the end of session. Both bills will now go to the Governor to be signed into law.
