When the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law, it required that all employers offer adult dependent care coverage to age 26.

The federal law differs from a state adult dependent law that went into effect the previous January. The differences are creating an administrative challenge for employers that must implement both state and federal laws adhere to both tax code requirements.

After hearing concerns about the differences from members, we worked with Representative Pat Strachota to draft a bill (LRB 0867) to federalize Wisconsin's adult dependent requirements. This way employers would need only follow one standard. LRB 0867 is currently circulating for co-sponsorship at the state capitol. Read the Fact Sheet about LRB 0867 (.pdf).

Unfortunately, the co-sponsorship memo on the bill began circulating just before the Governor's budget adjustment bill was revealed. Although the situation has not been resolved, we believe it is still important for members to reach out to state legislators to express support for LRB 0867 if they are in support of it, in order to gain more cosponsors of the legislation.

Since legislators are getting thousands of emails daily regarding the Governor's budget reconciliation bill, we recommend reaching out via letter. To help you do so, we have drafted a sample letter which you can use as a guide for drafting your own.

You may also try to reach out during business hours to capitol staff via telephone. We do not recommend leaving a message as it may not be listened to for several days.

The bill is scheduled to be introduced March 4, 2011, so you will need to reach out before then.

If you are unsure of who your legislators are, you may find out here. When you click on the legislators' pictures, you will be taken to a page showing you where you can mail letters or how you can contact them via telephone.

If you have any questions, you may contact me or Melissa Duffy, our health policy consultant, 608.334.0624.

Thank you for willingness to support our health care policy efforts. If you do comment, please e-mail me with any actions you have taken or fax a copy of comments to me at 608.276.6626

Kind Regards,