Wisconsin Health Care Partnership Plan
Topic: Future of Health Care
The Wisconsin Health Care Partnership is a new and innovative idea originated in an AFL-CIO task force on health care reform. The proposal was developed by a coalition of organizations including unions, employers, physicians and other concerned groups. It is modeled after Wisconsin’s Workers Compensation and Unemployment Compensation systems, both of which originated in Wis. and were then adopted nationwide. A Labor-Management Commission would determine the details of the plan based on input from the medical community and solicit bids to administer the plan.

The main advantages of the Plan are:
1. Streamlined administration. Currently 27% of health care expenditures are spent on administrative overhead. This is because of the bureaucracy necessary to administer complex plans. There are hundreds of different plans each with a unique set of co-pays, deductibles and coverage exclusions. This leads to every health care encounter needing to be evaluated by billing departments at the insurance company and provider. Also there are numerous admin costs involved in negotiating discounts with each health care provider or system. Another added cost is the insurance companies spend a lot of time evaluating each groups “Cost Experience” to determine different coverage’s and rates for each group. None of these costly operations actually pay for health care or improve its quality. Having a standardized plan would eliminate or greatly streamline all of these “taxes” on our current system. This is not to mention the savings in unnecessary advertising and promotional costs.
2. It retains the employer based model we are accustomed to which helps politically and doesn’t seem like such a dramatic change like a single payer plan. It is not funded by taxes other than a small amount necessary for the oversight board.
3. Bulk buying power for prescription drugs since 4.2 million people would negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies for one cost.
4. Reduction in uninsured from 650,000 to 85,000. Studies have shown the uninsured wait longer to receive care which actually increases overall cost since when they finally do go in it ends up being more serious. Most of the uninsured end up in government programs like Medicaid and Badger Care so the cost is already being paid by those with insurance in the form of taxes and cost shifting to those with coverage. For every uninsured person in Wisconsin $910 of unpaid medical bills are shifted to higher premium costs for those with insurance.
5. The Plan levels the playing field among employers. This is another area where we are in a race to the bottom in which no one wins. As one employer cuts benefits the competitor must match it to remain viable. This leads to employers cutting insurance to compete, which leads to more underinsured and uninsured, which leads to more uncompensated care, which leads a vicious cycle we all pay for.
6. Driving force for economic development because present and prospective employers will have a known set health care structure with no administrative costs at all for them. Plus until other states would change studies show the cost would be lower here.
7. The Plan will make it possible to reward best practice quality standards such as wellness programs, preventative care and standardized record keeping.
8. The cost of the plan was evaluated in two different actuary studies. The employer cost was estimated at $340 per month. This includes a 50% reduction in fee by employers for part time and low wage workers in small businesses. The employee would fund the program with $300 individual/$600 family yearly deductible and $15 per visit payment.

This is a rough overview of the Wisconsin Health Care Partnership Plan. If you find this plan intriguing please stand up and take action. Write Governor Doyle and your state senator and representative. You don’t have to prepare a long winded explanation, just tell them you are in support of SB 698 and want them to address this problem. If you are not in support of this plan please research the issues and by all means use this forum to discuss your misgivings. I feel strongly that the more we can explore and open up the debate the more this particular plan shines.

December Lakes Regional Labor Council Meeting
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Future of Health Care
The fight that awaits us to move towards workable solutions to the entire health care debacle we find ourselves in was never more obvious than after this months Lakes Regional Labor Council meeting. State Representative Bob Ziegelbauer was the guest speaker. When even a Democrat can have a stance on health care like his we must ready ourselves for a hard battle. We can expect the Insurance and Pharmaceutical industries and businesses that currently provide little or no health care to oppose a change of direction since they are reaping the benefits of our current system. But we must work hard to get the message out so a fair debate can be had and not stop until solutions are implemented. By now it is beyond debate that we can't stay on the course we are on. Rep. Ziegelbauer touted the same tired mantra how "free market" solutions such as HSA's are some sort of panacea, and how any plan which has oversight by government is "communist". I personally was outraged and very disappointed to hear a Democrat using such rhetoric but we must remember the industries that are benefiting from the "free market" conditions of our current system have been feeding our psyches with a constant barrage of garbage for some time. He went on to state “where has government ever succeeded in implementing health care.” Interestingly enough this country lags behind most industrialized nations in every tangible measure of health care even though we currently have the highest per capita cost in the world. I guess he is not aware that most if not all of these countries we lag behind have some sort of unified plan. Rep. Ziegelbauer used this analogy, “we are at a fork in the road as a society and need to have a healthy debate as to which way we want to proceed: freedom and choice or government oversight.” Whereas I strongly agree that we need to have open debate I disagree that we find ourselves at a fork. I feel a better analogy is we have been clearly going in only one direction which is free market health care. This “road” is leading us on a race to the bottom and its time to change course.

Specifically SB 698, which is co-sponsored by Senator Russ Decker (D) and Representative Terry Musser (R), needs to be evaluated. Labeled the Wisconsin Health Care Partnership Plan it is a comprehensive package that would address our problems in exploding health care costs. It is modeled after the successful Unemployment and Workers Comp programs which also were first implemented in Wisconsin. How exiting to think we could once again lead this country towards solving the biggest obstacle facing business and workers alike.

I look forward to discussing this plan with you on this site and welcome questions or comments.

Its time for REVEILLE! Let’s get moving.

Consumer Driven Health Care is the Wrong Prescription
Mood:  irritated
Now Playing: Consumer Driven Health Care is only a Myth
Health Care Savings Accounts (HSA) combined with high deductible plans (catastrophic coverage) can NOT fix the Heath Care mess we have.

As a nation, we already pay twice as much as other industrial counties and our medical outcomes are not as good. Health Care Comparisons The only category we rank higher than other countries is our acute emergency care. We need to credit our 911 systems, well trained EMT's and the dedicated ER personnel for this.

The problem with Consumer Driven Plans is they don't correct any of the problems our current system has. HSA's only provide an innovative way for individuals to keep paying the outrageous medical prices. With HSA's the administrative cost remain high (or get worse), and there is no incentive for medical community to change anything.

If your legislators say they favor Consumer Driven Health Plans with High Deductibles and HSA's, WATCH OUT! Contact them and let them know they are going in the wrong direction! Or, find a candidate that has a better position on Health Care and vote for them this fall!

Just remember, "Consumer Driven Health Care" was dreamed up by the same people that tried to tell us that "Terrorism Insurance" was a good thing for us too!