The Badger Herald: News: Healthy Wisconsin to be reintroduced in Legislature

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Healthy Wisconsin to be reintroduced in Legislature

Democrats look to revamp health care during new session

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By Rachel Vesco
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 12:00 a.m.

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As the state Legislature goes back into session this month, Senate Democrats are likely to reintroduce the Healthy Wisconsin Proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, and Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Waunakee, are currently planning to reorganize the bill before presenting it to the Senate.

According to Decker spokesperson Carrie Lynch, Healthy Wisconsin is a health care proposal that would provide health care to all Wisconsin citizens by building upon the health care insurance state workers currently have. The plan would put citizens in a pool and health care insurance providers would then bid on individuals on a case-by-case basis.

The bill was proposed last session and passed through the Senate but died in the Republican-controlled Assembly.

When the bill was originally proposed, it was to be governed by a 12-member Board of Trustees made up of a variety of different professionals who would be nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

It would be funded through a payroll tax paid by both employees and employers, replacing the health care premiums Wisconsin families currently pay.

According to Lynch, the bill is important because it would provide insurance to all Wisconsin citizens while reducing health care costs for businesses.

“Not everyone has health care, and companies are struggling to provide health care for their workers,” Lynch said. “We aren’t proposing to increase taxes — we just want to replace the money that people currently pay for health care.”

Since this is the second time the bill will be introduced, Decker and Erpenbach plan to make some changes to it, one of which includes small businesses, which often have the hardest time getting health care coverage for their employees.

However, Lynch said not all changes have been finalized.

Lynch believes with a new Democratic U.S. president who is more supportive of the issue, the bill is likely to continue to change before it is brought before the entire Senate.

However, Senate Republicans are likely to oppose the bill for a variety of reasons.

“We have very high access to health care in Wisconsin. The issue with health care is that it costs too much, and the Healthy Wisconsin proposal does nothing to address the cost,” said Tim Bender, spokesperson for Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon.

Bender also said Healthy Wisconsin would eliminate private contact between doctors and hospitals, removing incentives for doctors to stay in their regions.

According to Bender, the proposal will also reduce wages earned by students, since they will be required to give up some of their earnings to pay for their health insurance.

However, since Republicans are currently the minority party in the Legislature, they can’t do much to block the proposal, but they plan on introducing a variety of proposals that will lower the cost of health care.

To help increase support for his position, Fitzgerald plans to hold public hearings while increasing media coverage on the issue. Similarly, Decker is also planning to increase media outreach regarding the proposal and his position.

There are no definitive plans regarding when the bill will be formally introduced.

Erpenbach declined comment to The Badger Herald.

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