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LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
WOTA Legislative Update - October 2026 - Building on Our Successes
As we look ahead to a new legislative session, it is worth taking a moment to recognize what WOTA accomplished during the 2025–26 session.
Prior Authorization Reform
Our biggest legislative priority was prior authorization reform. Working with our partners in physical therapy, speech therapy and chiropractic care, WOTA helped advance legislation to allow patients to receive the first 12 visits of therapy without prior authorization.
The legislation received hearings in both the Assembly and Senate and earned unanimous committee support in both houses. Ultimately, however, the bill did not receive final passage before the end of the legislative session.
The prior authorization effort also demonstrated just how challenging it can be to move significant health care legislation. Several influential insurance industry organizations opposed the proposal and were actively engaged throughout the legislative process. Despite that opposition, we were able to move the bill through committees in both houses with bipartisan, unanimous support. That was a significant accomplishment and gives us a strong foundation for the next session.
It also reinforced the importance of WOTA member advocacy. When WOTA sends a legislative Call to Action, hearing directly from occupational therapists in their own communities can help legislators better understand how a proposal affects patients and providers. Emails, phone calls and personal outreach from constituents can be especially valuable at key points in the legislative process.
When you receive a future WOTA Call to Action, we encourage you to participate. A strong response from our members helps demonstrate that occupational therapists across Wisconsin are engaged and paying attention to the issues affecting their profession and their patients.
OT Day at the Capitol
Our 2025 OT Day at the Capitol was another major success, bringing more than 100 occupational therapy practitioners and students to Madison.
WOTA members met directly with legislators and staff to talk about occupational therapy, prior authorization and the issues affecting their patients and practices. These personal conversations are an important part of building greater awareness and understanding of OT at the Capitol.
Strengthening WOTA's Voice
Throughout the session, we continued building WOTA's presence and relationships in Madison and educating policymakers about the important role occupational therapists play throughout Wisconsin.
We are also working to build key relationships with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) so that occupational therapy is represented in discussions affecting school-based OTs and the students they serve.
At the same time, we continue to strengthen our relationships with important health care stakeholders, including our partners in physical therapy and other therapy professions. Those partnerships were especially valuable during the prior authorization effort and give us opportunities to work together on issues where our professions and patients share common interests.
Looking Ahead: An Important Election Year
The 2026 election cycle will bring significant change to state government. All 99 Assembly seats and half of the State Senate are on the ballot, and Wisconsin will elect a new Governor.
That means there will be new faces and new relationships to build when the Legislature convenes in January. It also makes the months following the election an important time for WOTA to introduce itself to newly elected legislators and help them understand what occupational therapy is, who OTs serve and the issues affecting the profession.
We will also continue strengthening relationships with returning legislators and other policymakers. A new session means beginning the legislative process again on proposals that did not pass, including prior authorization reform, but we will bring with us the relationships, experience and bipartisan support developed during the last session.
Last session demonstrated what WOTA can accomplish when our members are engaged. We increased our visibility, strengthened relationships with policymakers and health care partners, and gave occupational therapy a stronger voice in Madison.
We look forward to building on that work in the next legislative session.
-WOTA Lobbyist, Susie Schooff
WOTA Legislative Update – November 2025
Click here to read a recap of our exciting OT Day at the Capitol where we joined the PT's spreading messages in support of the Prior Auth Bills. This update is provided by our Lobbyist, Susie Schooff!
WOTA Legislative Update – August 2025
Click here to read the Prior Authorization update from our Lobbyist, Susie Schooff!
WOTA Legislative Update – June 2025
We’re excited to share that Senator Tomczyk and Representative Wittke are the lead authors of WOTA’s prior authorization reform bill, LRB 2802/1. This legislation proposes practical, targeted reforms to streamline the prior authorization process—reducing treatment delays, easing administrative burden, and ensuring patients have timely access to services like occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and chiropractic care.
One key provision of the bill is to prohibit insurers from requiring prior authorization for the first 12 visits for physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and chiropractic care. This change would significantly reduce treatment delays for patients beginning therapy and allow providers to focus on early intervention without administrative barriers.
WOTA is proud to be working as part of a broad coalition of provider organizations, including the American Physical Therapy Association–Wisconsin Chapter, the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association, the Chiropractic Society of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Association. Together, we’re advancing shared goals around patient access and provider efficiency.
While our bill is not tied to the state budget, a significant amount of legislative focus is currently dedicated to passing Wisconsin’s 2025–27 biennial budget—a normal part of the early legislative session. Our advocacy continues in parallel, building support for our standalone bill.
We are currently in the co-sponsorship phase, and legislators have until Friday, June 27th to sign on to LRB 2802/1. After the co-sponsorship period closes, the bill will be formally introduced and referred to committees in both the Assembly and Senate, where we will work toward securing public hearings later this year.
In addition to prior authorization reform, WOTA is also continuing its efforts to establish an independent Occupational Therapy Examining Board—a long-standing goal that supports appropriate regulation and elevates the profession. We are currently working to identify legislative authors to lead on this initiative.
As WOTA’s lobbyist, I’m proud to work alongside our members and leadership to advocate for these critical legislative priorities. Be on the lookout for a call to action in the coming days, asking you to contact your legislators and encourage them to sign on as co-sponsors of LRB 2802/1. Your voice and engagement are essential to our success.
Together, we can advance WOTA’s priorities and ensure occupational therapy continues to grow and thrive in Wisconsin.
— Susie Schooff
WOTA Lobbyist
Forward Public Strategies
If you have any legislative inquires, please contact the WOTA office at wota@wota.net. Check out the video below to learn more about legislation and advocacy: |