Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB255 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
2	2	LRB-2925/1
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4	4	2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 255
5	5	May 8, 2025 - Introduced by Representatives GUNDRUM, DITTRICH, FRANKLIN,
6	6	MURSAU, O'CONNOR, SUBECK and WICHGERS, cosponsored by Senators
7	7	CABRAL-GUEVARA and NASS. Referred to Committee on Health, Aging and
8	8	Long-Term Care.
9	9
10	10	*AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE*
11	11	AN ACT to create 146.93 of the statutes; relating to: assisted living facility
12	12	referral agencies and providing a penalty.
13	13	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
14	14	This bill imposes several requirements related to referring individuals to an
15	15	assisted living facility in exchange for a fee collected from the assisted living facility.
16	16	The bill defines an Xassisted living facilityY as a community-based residential
17	17	facility, a residential care apartment complex, or an adult family home.
18	18	Under the bill, an agency that refers a prospective resident to an assisted
19	19	living facility must disclose to the resident any relationship the referral agency has
20	20	with the assisted living facility, any fee that the assisted living facility will pay to
21	21	the referral agency, and the fact that the referral agency lists on its website only
22	22	those assisted living facilities with which the referral agency has a contractual
23	23	relationship. In addition, under the bill, a prospective resident may at any time
24	24	terminate all services provided to the resident by the referral agency, including the
25	25	use of the resident[s personal information. Any fee charged or collected by a referral
26	26	agency from an assisted living facility for a referral must be set in advance, must be
27	27	consistent with fair market value, and must be charged or collected only after a
28	28	resident confirms in writing that the resident utilized the referral agency to move
29	29	into the assisted living facility. A fee may not be based upon the potential value of
30	30	a resident to an assisted living facility or a percentage of the value of a professional
31	31	service provided by the assisted living facility. A referral agency may charge or
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34	34	ASSEMBLY BILL 255
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36	36	KMS:skw&wlj
37	37	SECTION 1
38	38	collect only one fee per referred resident, and no fee may be charged or collected if a
39	39	resident moves into a referred assisted living facility more than one year after the
40	40	referral agency and assisted living facility entered into a referral agreement for
41	41	that resident.
42	42	A referral agency that violates the provisions of the bill may be required to
43	43	forfeit up to $1,000 per violation.
44	44	The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
45	45	enact as follows:
46	46	SECTION 1. 146.93 of the statutes is created to read:
47	47	146.93 Referral agencies for certain assisted living facilities. (1)
48	48	DEFINITIONS. In this section:
49	49	(a) XAssisted living facilityY means a community-based residential facility, as
50	50	defined in s. 50.01 (1g), a residential care apartment complex, as defined in s. 50.01
51	51	(6d), or an adult family home, as defined in s. 50.01 (1) (b).
52	52	(b) XElectronicY includes an audio recording that conforms with chs. 901 to
53	53	911, that is maintained by a referral agency, and that is transmitted to an assisted
54	54	living facility and a resident in a format that can be downloaded.
55	55	(c) XReferral agencyY means a person that provides to a prospective resident a
56	56	referral to an assisted living facility for a fee that is collected from the assisted
57	57	living facility. XReferral agencyY does not include any of the following:
58	58	1. An assisted living facility or its employees.
59	59	2. A resident, a resident[s family member, or a patron of an assisted living
60	60	facility who refers a prospective resident to an assisted living facility and receives a
61	61	discount or other remuneration from the assisted living facility.
62	62	(d) XResidentY means a resident of an assisted living facility and includes any
63	63	representative of a resident of an assisted living facility.
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85	85	SECTION 1
86	86	(2) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT . (a) A referral agency shall disclose, in the
87	87	format prescribed in par. (c), to a prospective resident at the time or before any
88	88	referral is made to an assisted living facility all of the following:
89	89	1. The existence of any current business relationship or any common
90	90	ownership or control and any other financial, business, management, or familial
91	91	relationship that exists between the referral agency and the assisted living facility.
92	92	2. That the assisted living facility pays a fixed referral fee to the referral
93	93	agency in connection with the referral.
94	94	3. The amount of the fixed referral fee that the assisted living facility will pay
95	95	to the referral agency in connection with the referral.
96	96	4. That the referral agency lists on its website only assisted living facilities
97	97	with which the referral agency has a contractual relationship.
98	98	5. That the prospective resident may at any time terminate all services
99	99	provided to the prospective resident by a referral agency, including the use of the
100	100	prospective resident[s personal information, by providing a written or electronic
101	101	termination notice to the referral agency.
102	102	(b) After the first instance of the referral agency providing the disclosure
103	103	required by par. (a), the referral agency shall request from the prospective resident
104	104	an acknowledgement of receipt of the disclosure in the same manner and form in
105	105	which the disclosure was delivered.
106	106	(c) The referral agency[s disclosure under par. (a) shall be oral, electronic, or
107	107	in writing, shall be substantially as follows, and, if written, shall be in 14-point font
108	108	type:
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135	135	SECTION 1
136	136	Wisconsin law requires that we provide you with the following disclosure
137	137	notice:
138	138	We are in the business of referring residents to community-based residential
139	139	facilities, residential care apartment complexes, and adult family homes. We will
140	140	be paid by the facility if you move into one of the referred facilities. The fixed
141	141	referral fee we receive from the facility into which you move will be $.... (insert
142	142	amount). We (do/do not) have a current business relationship (but/and) we (do/do
143	143	not) have a common ownership or control in, or any other financial, business,
144	144	management, or familial relationship with, (any/one or more) of the facilities to
145	145	which we are referring you. We (do/do not) list on our website only those facilities
146	146	with which we have a contractual relationship.
147	147	By providing us with a written or electronic notice, you have the right to
148	148	terminate our services to you at any time, including our use of your personal
149	149	information. If you terminate our services, we will not be entitled to any fee for any
150	150	move-in you make after the date of the termination notice.
151	151	(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS . (a) A referral agency may charge and collect
152	152	a fee from an assisted living facility participating in its services only if that fee is set
153	153	in advance, is consistent with the fair market value for the information services
154	154	provided by the referral agency, and is not based on the potential value of a
155	155	prospective resident to an assisted living facility or on the value of or a percentage
156	156	of the value of a professional service provided by the assisted living facility.
157	157	(b) A referral agency may charge and collect a fee from an assisted living
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180	180	ASSEMBLY BILL 255
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183	183	SECTION 1
184	184	facility only after a resident confirms in writing that the resident utilized the
185	185	referral agency to move into the referred assisted living facility.
186	186	(c) No agreement between a referral agency and an assisted living facility for
187	187	a referral of a particular prospective resident to the assisted living facility may be
188	188	for a term greater than one year. The referral agency may not charge or collect a fee
189	189	related to the referral from the referred assisted living facility if the prospective
190	190	resident moves into the assisted living facility after the agreement expires.
191	191	(d) A referral agency may charge or collect from an assisted living facility only
192	192	one fee per resident referred by the referral agency to the assisted living facility.
193	193	(4) TERMINATION BY RESIDENT. A prospective resident may at any time
194	194	terminate all services provided to the prospective resident by a referral agency,
195	195	including the use of the prospective resident[s personal information, by providing a
196	196	written or electronic termination notice to the referral agency.
197	197	(5) PENALTY. A referral agency that violates this section may be required to
198	198	forfeit not more than $1,000 for each violation.
199	199	(6) INJUNCTION. The attorney general or the district attorney of the
200	200	appropriate county may, in addition to any other remedies, bring an action in the
201	201	name and on behalf of the state against a referral agency to restrain and enjoin a
202	202	violation of this section.
203	203	SECTION 2. Initial applicability.
204	204	(1) This act first applies to a contract that is entered into, renewed, or
205	205	modified on the effective date of this subsection.
206	206	(END)
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