Dear Friends,

On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Insurance, Licensing, and Forestry held a public hearing on an important bill I authored with State Representative Tony Kurtz of Wonewoc called "Koreen’s law."

It's named after a Wisconsin woman whose insurance company put unnecessary hurdles that delayed her chemotherapy. Koreen's insurance company engaged in a dangerous and unfair process called "white bagging."

Throughout the hearing, the committee heard from patients who have had their health care upended by white bagging. I want to thank State Senator Mary Felzkowski of Irma for holding the hearing. You can read more about it below.

As always, if you have any concerns or ideas on how to improve our great state, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at 608-266-5830 or by email at Sen.Darling@legis.wisconsin.gov.

On, Wisconsin!
White Bagging Bill Has Public Hearing
When someone is sick, the last thing they need is to have to jump through hoops to get the medications their doctor prescribes. Too often, patients are suddenly finding out their insurance won't cover their treatment. I am working on a bill to stop this.

On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Insurance, Licensing, and Forestry held a public hearing on an important bill I authored with State Representative Tony Kurtz of Wonewoc called "Koreen’s law." The bill is named after Eau Claire resident Koreen Holmes.

Koreen was eight months pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Soon after giving birth, she began chemotherapy treatments. Months into her treatment, Koreen’s insurance company told her they wouldn’t pay for the medication provided by her hospital any longer. Instead, her medicine would need to be shipped to the hospital from a specialty pharmacy chosen by the patient’s insurance company, outside of the hospital’s normal supply chain.
Investing in Mental Health
Across the United States, there is a discrepancy between those seeking mental health care and those able to access care. While there are many obstacles to receiving care, notably, there is a severe shortage of psychiatrists. This nationwide trend is seen in Wisconsin, where 55 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties have a psychiatrist shortage.

In 2013, I helped take steps to counteract the psychiatrist shortage by providing funds for the Child Psychiatry Consultation Program (CPCP). This innovative program connects primary care providers with child psychiatrists. Operated by the Medical College of Wisconsin, the program allows providers to receive consultations on youth mental health cases and also provides educational seminars on mental health for providers.

Effectively, the CPCP has allowed primary care providers to receive expert consultation on youth mental health cases. This has allowed our primary care physicians to be the first line of defense and alleviate the often months-long waiting period for children to be seen by a child psychiatrist. Due to the success of the program, the CPCP has continued to grow and expand with each legislative session.

This week, I introduced a bill to expand the program and create a comprehensive Mental Health Consultation Program (MHCP) for Wisconsin. The MHCP would be a resource for primary care providers throughout the state for services related to perinatal, child, adult, geriatric, pain, veteran, and general mental health consultation services. The MHCP would provide education, consultative support, and community resource referrals for primary care physicians.

My bill is an innovative solution to serve more constituents’ mental health needs and better prepare our primary care providers to face the emerging mental health concerns in our communities. I am currently looking for co-sponsors for my bill.
Closing the Achievement Gap
As you can see below, our state's school report cards are dismal. Too many kids are falling behind, especially in reading. The achievement gap is too high in many school districts and the pandemic is making it all worse.

I authored legislation to allow innovative programs like Waterford Upstart will help us close the achievement gap and provide a solid base for children to show up ready to learn when they reach kindergarten. Waterford Upstart helps low-come, four-year-old children prepare for school at home for free. More than 83% of students in the Waterford Upstart program are demonstrating strong readiness for Kindergarten.

This week, I testified in my bill to expand the upstart program statewide in the Senate Committee on Education, which I chair. My bill will target areas with the highest achievement gaps. I will be calling for a vote on my bill soon.

Especially during these times, it’s important to have online learning options with proven methods that lead to future success.
Dismal Reading Scores
As a former teacher, I am extremely concerned about the significant drop in reading and English scores.

As I told the MacIver Institute, our state is facing an educational crisis. We have a reading and learning crisis and the only solution coming from Governor Evers and DPI is to study it more. I’m sick of studies. The shelves at DPI are stacked with studies. It’s time for action.

Sadly, every bold initiative we have proposed over the last couple of years has been met with strong opposition to protect the status quo. Our kids deserve better and I’m not giving up on them.
School Report Cards
The Department of Public Instruction's 2020-21 School Report Cards show the need for reforming education.

Many Wisconsin school districts slipped in the 2020-21 school year compared to 2018-19, according to report card data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The department changed the methodology for report cards this year, allowing schools to meet expectations with lower scores.

Click on the picture to see how your school district is performing.
Blue Books on their Way
Thank you to all who have requested a 2021-2022 Wisconsin Blue Book. We have fulfilled all requests we received before this week and are in the process of processing a few remaining requests.

If you have not yet requested a Blue Book but would live to receive one, please click the picture and we will mail you one at no cost.

If you requested a Blue Book more than two weeks ago and it has not yet arrived, please reach out via email at Sen.Darling@legis.wisconsin.gov and provide your name and shipping address. More recent requests should arrive in the coming days.

Thank you for your patience.
COVID-19 Vaccine, Testing Information
Around the 8th...