On August 8, 2025, Governor Tony Evers signed Senate Bill 14, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 22, which establishes new informed consent requirements for pelvic examinations. This Act requires hospitals to obtain written informed consent from a patient prior to performing a pelvic examination solely for educational purposes while the patient is under general anesthesia or otherwise unconscious. This legislation also mandates that hospitals implement written policies and procedures for obtaining informed consent prior to performing pelvic exams on unconscious patients.
Governor Evers stated, “I am glad to be signing this bipartisan legislation today that brings Wisconsin in line with the majority of other states and that codifies practices already happening at healthcare providers across the state to require written, informed consent for educational pelvic exams. This bill has been many years in the making, and I am grateful for the dedicated work of several bipartisan legislators, healthcare professionals, and stakeholders to get this done to protect the rights and privacy of patients.”
Governor Evers also vetoed Senate Bill 4 in its entirety. Senate Bill 4 related to direct primary care agreements (arrangements where a provider offers primary care services for a regular fee) and would have exempted these agreements from Wisconsin’s insurance laws. The bill would have also prohibited providers from declining to enter into or terminating a direct primary care agreement solely based on a patient’s health status. In his veto message, Governor Evers explained that he vetoed the bill due to the Legislature failing to provide sufficient protections for patients receiving care under these agreements from being discriminated against and potentially losing access to their care. Governor Evers added that he had raised similar concerns when he vetoed a previous version of this bill, concerns that the Legislature failed to satisfactorily address.
Key Takeaways:
- Wisconsin hospitals can look to Husch Blackwell for guidance on implementing policies and procedures for obtaining informed consent prior to performing pelvic exams on unconscious patients.
- Direct primary care agreements remain subject to existing insurance laws in Wisconsin, pending further legislative action.
[View source.]
