Wisconsin employers, insurers and claims professionals should take note of substantial amendments to the Worker's Compensation Act under 2025 Wisconsin Act 145. Effective April 1, 2026, the Act revises benefit levels, hearing procedure, evidentiary rules, settlement administration, supplemental benefits, PTSD coverage and enforcement provisions relating to insurance compliance.
Among the Act’s immediate monetary changes, the maximum weekly permanent partial disability rate increases to $454 for injuries occurring on and after April 1, 2026, and to $462 for injuries occurring on and after January 1, 2027. The legislation also expands criminal insurance fraud exposure to false or fraudulent applications for worker's compensation coverage and to insurance applications that falsely misclassify employees in order to reduce premiums.
Act 145 expands the category of serious traumatic injuries not subject to the statute of limitations by adding shoulder replacements and reverse shoulder replacements. It also extends PTSD coverage to all emergency medical responders, emergency medical service practitioners and firefighters, regardless of employment or volunteer status, aligning those groups more broadly with the coverage previously extended to law enforcement officers and full-time firefighters.
The Act also changes settlement administration in several important respects. It eliminates the requirement that compromise settlement...
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