Rep. Robyn Vining on Passage of Assembly Bill 26
Republicans pass legislation making it easier for direct primary care providers to discriminate on who they’d like to give care to.
MADISON – Today, the Wisconsin State Assembly voted on Assembly Bill 26, relating to direct primary care agreements. State Representative Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) issued the following statement after Assembly Republicans passed the bill with Assembly Amendment 2, which changes the classes protected from discrimination when entering into a primary care agreement:
“Today, my colleagues across the aisle in the Assembly decided to unnecessarily open the door to allow health care providers to reject providing care to patients on the basis of citizenship status, gender or gender identity, genetic information, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information to the extent it is not implicated in health status, and the catch-all phrase, ‘any other protected class’.
“I voted in support of this bill when it went through my committee. However, the last minute changes made today made this bill a non-starter. By removing and altering anti-discrimination protections for patients that seek direct primary care, this amendment puts my constituents and the people of Wisconsin at risk.
“I believe in bipartisan solutions to nonpartisan issues — all Wisconsinites deserve access to high quality and affordable healthcare, like this bill originally promised. This bill lost my vote when it was decided that not all Wisconsinites would be protected when it came to accessing direct primary care. Furthermore, I am concerned about the precedent set by this change.”
Rep. Vining represents the 14th Assembly District, which includes parts of Brookfield, Wauwatosa, and Milwaukee. For more information, visit Rep. Vining’s website here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.