[media-credit name=’RAY PFEIFFER/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]With this week's revelation that state lawmakers are able to convert unused sick days into tens of thousands of dollars in health benefits, health-care reform will be a prominent part of state lawmakers' agendas as the next session begins in January.

Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit — who will take over as Senate majority leader when the Legislature convenes in January — told The Badger Herald in a sit-down interview that health care was a driving factor that led to Democratic gains across the state and a new Democratic majority in the state Senate.

"What drove that shift was the interest by the young people on some of the issues that they care about, which is health care in particular," Robson said, adding that the surprising turnout of young voters was due to the relevance of issues discussed during campaigns, including birth control access, family planning services access and stem-cell research.

Robson also referenced a study by Mercer Health and Benefits LLC released last week that shows health-benefit costs are 26.5 percent higher for Wisconsin employers than the national average. In addition, the study found employer-provided health benefits increased 9.3 percent in Wisconsin this past year, while the national average was an increase of 6.1 percent.

"In southeastern Wisconsin … the health-care costs are the highest in the whole country," Robson said. "We're finding that health care and the need for health-care reform is now intruding on economic development and job growth, which has a direct impact on young people as they are graduating and looking for jobs."

But health-care reform is also being discussed to limit the benefits for Wisconsin legislators.

According to recently released records, six ex-lawmakers convicted of corruption are eligible for about $300,000 in free health care.

These lawmakers include former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, R-Brookfield; former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala, D-Madison; former Sen. Gary George, D-Milwaukee; former Assembly Majority Leader Steven Foti, R-Oconomowoc; former Sen. Brian Burke, D-Milwaukee; and former Rep. Bonnie Ladwig, R-Racine.

All state employees can convert unused sick time to buy health insurance from the state when they turn 55. But most lawmakers do not take sick days when they miss votes, which allows them accrue larger retirement benefits.

Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, D-Milwaukee, and Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, said Monday they plan to introduce bills next session to end the benefits for lawmakers. Under the proposals, however, lawmakers would be able to keep their existing benefits and continue to build up insurance credits through 2008 for current legislators and through 2010 for re-elected senators.

Though Robson said she hopes to garner bipartisan support for other health-care reform measures, she is still in the process of determining her stance on the lawmakers' benefits issue.

"I'm asking for the Legislative Reference Bureau to do a review … of what the statutory intent was and also what the costs are and also making sure that when we rewrite the senate policy that we ensure that senators who are sick use their sick time," Robson said.

Wasserman wrote a bill in 2003 to end the benefit for lawmakers, but no other representative signed on to it. He said he would talk to lawmakers and introduce a new bill in January because taxpayers are now aware of the scope of the benefit.

"You can save the state money right off the top, and it's also the right thing to do," Wasserman said. "We're in government to serve the people, and we're not in government to take extras, and I think this is an extra."

Though the legislators have not discussed the bill together, they said they were open to working with each other on the legislation.

Robson said she thinks a version of the bill will pass but that right now she is unsure if she will support the legislators' efforts.

"I don't think we ought to be changing the [Senate's] policy based on press reports," Robson said. "I'm a scientist — I want to know what the facts are; I want to know what the options are; and I want to be sure the facts are accurate."