By | Employment BlogMay 29, 2026

On May 29, 2026, the IRS announced the Health Savings Account limits for 2027.  With respect to contribution limits, and reflecting the inflationary environment, the limits are higher than the ones for 2026 and the required deductible and out-of-pocket maximums have increased as well.  As a reminder, these inflation adjusted amounts are effective for calendar year 2027.

HSA/HDHP Requirement
Cost-of-Living Adjustments

Limit on HSA Contributions – Self-only HDHP
2026…
Continue Reading 2027 HSA Limits Are Announced

On May 14, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) submitted a proposal to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (“OIRA”) seeking to rescind EEO-1 reporting requirements for all eligible employers, along with EEO-2, EEO-3, EEO-4, and EEO-5 data collection, and reporting requirements under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

EEO-1 reporting requirements obligate private employers with more than 100…
Continue Reading Proposed EEOC Rule Signals Shift in Reporting Requirements

  • As announced on May 1, WakeMed plans to merge with Atrium Health. However, a recent article reported that UNC Health submitted an unsolicited $5B merger proposal to WakeMed (as compared to the $2B bid offered by Atrium). WakeMed’s board of directors ultimately proceeded with Atrium, citing concerns over market consolidation and reduced health care choice in Wake County.
  • According to a recent survey of design and construction professionals, 62% of respondents said that the health care construction industry is

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    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: More Info on WakeMed/Atrium Health Merger | Health Care Construction Industry Continues to Grow | AdventHealth Posts $23B in Operating Revenue

    If you are a same-sex couple wanting to build a family, you may wonder, what is legally required? How do I protect our parental rights? What happens if something is not set up correctly from the beginning? When should we consult a lawyer?

    Here is the short answer: in Wisconsin, both surrogacy and adoption are available paths for same-sex couples, but neither is as smooth as it should be. Each path requires careful legal planning to make sure your…
    Continue Reading Pursuing Surrogacy or Adoption for Same-Sex Couples

    In April, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released the FY 2027 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (“IPPS”) Proposed Rule (“Proposed Rule”) to update IPPS payment rates and uncompensated care payments, refine CMS’s definition of new GME residency programs, request input on new quality measures, expand the joint replacement payment model, CJR-X, on a nationwide basis and introduce quality measures into the Transforming Episode Accountability Model (“TEAM”) program.
    Increase to Payment Rates Under the IPPS
    Following a rebasing…
    Continue Reading CMS Publishes FY 2027 IPPS Proposed Rule

    Note: You can find prior versions of these questions at this October 2020 post, which has the questions that existed as of September 2020.
    The initial claim and weekly certification questions as of June 2022 are also available. The June 2007 weekly certification questions (all 11 of them) and the 2009 claimants’ handbook focused on how to answer those 11 questions are also available.

    Here are the summer 2025 versions (with Spanish versions again available)

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    Continue Reading Claim-Filing Questions in Wisconsin as of the Summer of 2025

    Memorial Day weekend in Wisconsin usually involves grilling, yard projects that immediately become more complicated than expected, and at least one person insisting they can totally finish rebuilding the deck before Monday night.

    Underneath all of that though, Memorial Day is serious. It is a day set aside to remember people who died serving this country and the idea behind it: self-government. Messy, imperfect, occasionally exhausting self-government, but self-government nonetheless.

    That system only works if people believe their participation…
    Continue Reading Happy Memorial Day

    If you’ve been watching the real estate news over the past two years, you have probably noticed an increase in senior housing transactions. A number of the health care real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and specialty REITs that have historically focused on nursing homes have pivoted to investing in senior housing communities that offer independent living, assisted living and memory care services. It seems like the major real estate investors can’t get enough of senior housing.

    We’ve seen it…
    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: 5 Reasons Why Hospital Systems Should Consider a Senior Housing Partnership

    Wisconsin Act 29 is an important worker’s compensation law that makes it easier for certain first responders to bring PTSD claims. Before Act 29, Wisconsin law generally required employees with mental injury claims to prove that their PTSD or other psychological condition was caused by “unusual stress” beyond the ordinary stresses of the job. That standard was especially hard on firefighters and police officers, because even horrific events could be treated as “ordinary” parts of those professions. Act 29…
    Continue Reading How Does Wisconsin Act 29 Help Firefighters and Police Officers With PTSD Claims?

    The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 (CMMC 2.0) is a Department of Defense (DoD) initiated standard meant to assess defense contractor compliance with existing information safeguarding requirements for federal contract information (FCI), as defined in section 4.1901 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), and controlled unclassified information (CUI), as outlined in Title 32 CFR 2002.4(h). The Rule requires all entities who store information classified as FCI or CUI to comply with cybersecurity standards set in CMMC 2.0. The Issue…
    Continue Reading Beyond Cybersecurity: The Business and Legal Risks of CMMC 2.0

    I want to begin by sharing my experience navigating the law school hiring cycle. During 1L, I was fortunate to be accepted into the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Diversity Clerkship Program. I applied and interviewed in January 2024, was accepted into the program in February, interviewed with employers shortly afterward, and ultimately secured a placement in March. In 2024, that was incredibly fast. I withdrew applications from several employers who would not even begin reviewing applications until late March.
    Continue Reading The Accelerated Law School Hiring Cycle Hurts Our Profession

    On May 21, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a policy memo titled Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace, and an Extraordinary Relief that Permits Applicants to Dispense with the Ordinary Consular Visa Process (the “Policy Memo”). According to the Policy Memo, adjustment of status to Lawful Permanent Resident is a discretionary benefit not designed to supersede the regular consular visa-issuing process. This is a departure from the longstanding procedure for seeking…
    Continue Reading USCIS Limits Adjustment of Status to Applications Demonstrating Extraordinary Relief

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    Health care enforcement is entering a data-driven era in which artificial intelligence (“AI”) and large-scale analytics increasingly shape how fraud is identified and pursued, as reflected in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) launch of the Fraud Oversight through Careful Use of Statistics (“FOCUS”) initiative.
    Overview of the FOCUS Initiative
    On April 7, 2026, DOJ launched the FOCUS initiative, a first-of-its-kind program formalizing the Civil Division’s engagement with data miners who file qui tam complaints under the False…
    Continue Reading DOJ’s Data-Driven FCA Enforcement Initiative Raises Stakes for Health Care Providers

    Section 973.195 of the Wisconsin Statutes allows for the early conversion of prison time into supervision once a convicted individual has served 75% to 85% of their confinement. Mays Law (serving Middleton and Madison) seeks judicial release for its clients in Dane County, even when the district attorney (DA) objects under the Stenklyft precedent.

    Individuals who are serving prison time for qualifying felonies are eligible to seek sentencing adjustments under Section 973.195 of the Wisconsin Statutes. While the Wisconsin…
    Continue Reading Second Chances in 2026: Navigating Sentence Adjustments Under Wisconsin Statute § 973.195

    Memorial Day marks the start of summer for many people, and in addition to boating and barbecues, many employers start to think about summer hires. While many companies hire younger workers for seasonal staffing needs, they need to be aware that the employment of minors is a heavily regulated area.

    Work Permits
    Wisconsin requires work permits for minors under 16 (with limited exceptions such as agricultural work or employment in a parent’s business). The permit must be obtained before…
    Continue Reading Don’t Let Summer Hiring Create Liability: A Practical Guide to Employing Minors in Wisconsin

    When a workplace injury occurs, the legal response often begins with worker’s compensation. But for both employers and employees, that is rarely the end of the story. As medical restrictions continue or evolve, the same set of facts can implicate worker’s compensation law, the ADA and Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA), and federal and state leave statutes at the same time. Understanding this overlap matters because the legal risks and the practical expectations look very different depending on which…
    Continue Reading Navigating Workplace Injury Obligations for Employers and Employees in Wisconsin