Wisconsin LTC, Annuity, and Flood CE Training Guide

Wisconsin's specialty training requirements unlock three of the state's most significant insurance markets: the Milwaukee financial services community's retirement advisory demand (Northwestern Mutual's home office professionals and financial advisors; Epic Systems tech professionals in Madison creating rollover advisory demand), an aging Wisconsin population with significant dairy farm and agricultural wealth creating LTC Partnership advisory need, and Wisconsin's river systems — Mississippi River, Wisconsin River, Fox River, and Lake Michigan shoreline — creating genuine NFIP flood insurance advisory needs. All specialty training counts toward Wisconsin's 24-hour CE requirement.

Annuity Training (Effective April 15, 2022 — 2021 Wis. Act)

Wisconsin's Annuity Best Interest rule — effective April 15, 2022 (earlier than most comparison states):

One-time 4-hour OCI-approved course before selling annuities

Life/variable annuity licensees

Can complete in any state with substantially similar laws

Counts toward 24-hour CE

Wisconsin annuity market:

Northwestern Mutual (Milwaukee): Northwestern Mutual is one of the world's largest life insurance and financial services companies — Fortune 500, headquartered in Milwaukee, with over $314 billion in assets and 8,000+ Wisconsin employees:

Home office professionals: $70,000-$200,000+

Financial representatives and advisors: income varies widely by practice size

Senior executives: $300,000-$2,000,000+

Northwestern Mutual's significant permanent life insurance portfolio creates ongoing rollover advisory from policyholders who surrender policies — annuity rollover advisory opportunities

Northwestern Mutual is itself a major annuity issuer — producers advising clients with Northwestern Mutual policies must understand the competitive annuity landscape

Epic Systems (Verona/Madison): Epic employs approximately 12,000+ highly-paid technology and healthcare professionals:

Software engineers, implementation consultants, healthcare IT professionals: $90,000-$200,000+

Epic's career culture (historically low turnover but significant growth) creates large 401(k) balances for departing employees

Career transitions from Epic to other EHR companies, hospitals, or tech companies create rollover advisory demand

Epic's broad geographic hiring (employees relocate from across the country) creates diverse financial backgrounds

Wisconsin dairy and agricultural wealth: Wisconsin dairy farmers and agricultural landowners with significant farm equity create annuity advisory demand at farm succession and retirement:

Farm income annuitization at succession

Agricultural employer 401(k) rollovers

Annuity Best Interest certification ensures these rollovers are recommended in clients' best interests

LTC Training (Wisconsin-Distinctive)

Wisconsin LTC training:

Initial: 8 hours (one-time); must include 2 hours specific to Wisconsin Medicaid and LTC

Ongoing: 4 hours every 2-year renewal period; must include 1 hour specific to Wisconsin Medicaid and LTC

Wisconsin LTC Market:

BadgerCare Plus context for LTC advisory: Wisconsin's distinctive partial Medicaid expansion creates a specific LTC advisory context:

Adults at ≤100% FPL: BadgerCare Plus covers healthcare but NOT long-term care (nursing home care requires asset spend-down to qualify for BadgerCare Plus LTC coverage)

Adults at 100-138% FPL: marketplace coverage; LTC not covered

For Wisconsin clients with significant assets: LTC insurance protects against having to spend down those assets to qualify for BadgerCare Plus LTC coverage

Wisconsin LTC Partnership Program: Wisconsin has an LTC Partnership program that provides asset protection dollar-for-dollar against BadgerCare Plus spend-down:

When a Partnership-qualified LTC policy pays benefits, BadgerCare Plus protects an equivalent amount of the policyholder's assets from spend-down

For Wisconsin dairy farmers with $2-6 million+ in land values and farm assets, LTC Partnership advisory is the most important individual insurance product available

Wisconsin dairy farm LTC context: Wisconsin produces over 25% of US cheese — one of the most dairy-intensive states in the country:

Dairy farm values: significant per-acre values in Wisconsin's agricultural counties (Grant, Jefferson, Vernon, Sauk counties particularly)

A 400-acre Wisconsin dairy farm may represent $4-8 million+ in land value plus significant herd and equipment value

Farm family LTC Partnership advisory protects generational farm assets from BadgerCare Plus spend-down — a uniquely Wisconsin LTC advisory conversation

Aging Wisconsin population: Wisconsin's significant Baby Boomer population in Milwaukee suburbs (Brookfield, Waukesha, Wauwatosa, West Allis), Madison suburbs (Middleton, Fitchburg, Sun Prairie), and smaller Wisconsin cities creates active LTC advisory demand. Northwestern Mutual's community creates above-average LTC awareness and premium affordability.

University of Wisconsin-Madison: UW-Madison faculty and administrators approaching retirement have TIAA-CREF accounts and above-average LTC receptivity from their healthcare system exposure (UW Hospital is a Level I trauma center and academic medical center).

NFIP Flood Insurance Certification

Requirement: One-time NFIP Flood Insurance training for P&C/Personal Lines producers selling flood policies. Counts toward 24-hour CE.

Wisconsin flood context:

Wisconsin River: The Wisconsin River flows across the state from northern Wisconsin to the Mississippi — communities along the Wisconsin River (Rhinelander, Wausau, Wisconsin Dells, Prairie du Chien) face periodic flooding. Wisconsin Dells' tourist economy around the Wisconsin River creates commercial flood advisory for tourism businesses.

Mississippi River (western Wisconsin): Wisconsin's western border is the Mississippi River — communities including Prairie du Chien, La Crosse, Genoa, Alma, Pepin, and Prescott face significant Mississippi River flooding risk. La Crosse in particular has experienced major flooding events.

Fox River (Fox Valley / Appleton / Green Bay): The Fox River flows through Wisconsin's Fox Valley — Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, and eventually Green Bay. The Fox River has historical flooding issues. The Fox Valley's significant paper industry manufacturing along the river creates commercial flood advisory needs.

Lake Michigan shoreline (Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan): While Lake Michigan itself doesn't flood in the traditional sense, lake surge events and extreme water levels create shoreline flooding risk. Property near Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Sheboygan faces periodic shoreline flooding.

Urban flooding (Milwaukee): Milwaukee's combined sewer system has created significant urban flooding issues — particularly in the Menomonee River and Milwaukee River drainage areas. Urban flooding is an active NFIP advisory market for Milwaukee-area P&C producers.

Integrating Specialty Training Into Wisconsin's 24-Hour CE

Life producer — 24 hours needed:

4-hr Annuity Best Interest (one-time) ✓

8-hr LTC initial (one-time; 2 hrs WI Medicaid) ✓

3-hr Ethics ✓

9 hrs general Life/A&H CE ✓

Total: 24 hours ✓

P&C/Personal Lines producer — 24 hours needed:

NFIP Flood (one-time) ✓

4-hr LTC refresher (1 hr WI Medicaid) ✓ (if previously LTC-certified)

3-hr Ethics ✓

Remaining P&C hours ✓

Total: 24 hours ✓

5 Frequently Asked Questions

• What makes the Wisconsin LTC training's Medicaid content requirement uniquely important? Wisconsin's LTC training requires specific Wisconsin Medicaid (BadgerCare Plus) content — 2 hours in the initial course and 1 hour in the ongoing refresher. No other comparison state has an equivalent requirement. The Wisconsin Medicaid content covers: BadgerCare Plus eligibility (100% FPL threshold); BadgerCare Plus LTC spend-down requirements; and the Wisconsin LTC Partnership program. This Medicaid-specific content is directly relevant to advising Wisconsin clients on LTC planning.
• What is the Wisconsin LTC Partnership program and how does it protect farm assets? Wisconsin's LTC Partnership allows Partnership-qualified LTC policies to protect assets dollar-for-dollar from BadgerCare Plus LTC spend-down requirements. When a Partnership policy pays out $200,000 in LTC benefits, BadgerCare Plus protects $200,000 of the policyholder's assets from the spend-down that normally precedes Medicaid eligibility. For Wisconsin dairy farmers with $4-8 million in land value, this dollar-for-dollar protection preserves generational farm equity that would otherwise need to be spent down before BadgerCare Plus LTC coverage begins.
• Why does Wisconsin's April 15, 2022 Annuity Best Interest date matter for producers who hold existing annuity clients? Wisconsin adopted Annuity Best Interest in April 2022 — earlier than Indiana (July 2024) and Missouri (August 2024). Producers who completed the 4-hour training in 2022 have already met the one-time requirement. However, ongoing compliance with the Best Interest standard (documentation requirements, needs analysis) is a continuous obligation, not a one-time training completion. The training teaches the standard; complying with it in each annuity transaction is the ongoing obligation.
• What is the Fox Valley's industrial flood advisory context? The Fox River through Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, and Green Bay runs through Wisconsin's historic paper industry corridor. Paper mills, manufacturing facilities, and commercial buildings along the Fox River face specific flood risk from Fox River flooding events. NFIP flood certification positions Fox Valley P&C producers to serve the commercial flood insurance advisory needs of the region's manufacturing base — a commercial niche distinct from the primarily residential NFIP market in most markets.
• Do the LTC initial and refresher training hours count toward both the CE total and any LTC-specific requirement separately? Yes — Wisconsin's initial LTC training (8 hours, including 2 WI Medicaid hours) and ongoing refresher (4 hours, including 1 WI Medicaid hour) count toward the 24-hour CE requirement in the cycle completed. There is no separate LTC-specific CE category outside the 24-hour total. The LTC hours are part of the 24-hour total, not in addition to it.

Build Your Wisconsin Specialty Insurance Practice

Wisconsin's annuity advisory demand from Northwestern Mutual and Epic Systems professionals, LTC Partnership advisory for dairy farm families, and NFIP flood advisory for Wisconsin River and Fox Valley communities create specialty opportunities across the state. JustInsurance's OCI-approved Wisconsin CE includes all specialty training courses with Wisconsin Medicaid content.

Enroll today and develop your Wisconsin specialty insurance expertise.