By Jack E. Lohman
The assembly Republicans are absolutely wrong to oppose the senate's Healthy Wisconsin plan, but I suspect they know it and would rather confuse the public to give them cover to kill the bill. Their insurance industry contributors will love them for that!
And we wonder why Wisconsin is the third highest cost state in the nation for health care? Thank the moneyed interests and the politicians who open their pockets.
The health care proposal by the Senate Democrats is a very reasonable plan. It will replace the 15 percent employers currently pay for premiums with a 10.5 percent tax on wages. And a 4 percent employee tax on wages will offset much of what they now pay and still leave them with a net 15 percent savings. Of course the Wal-Marts of the world will have to start paying their share, and sending their employees to our taxpayer funded BadgerCare will no longer be an option.
The public and most business leaders are behind this plan; the state's Republicans and insurance industry are not. But some of the business associations oppose it because they both have insurance industry members and they sell insurance policies to their members. So much for an unbiased debate on that side.
The senate health care plan will decrease corporate costs and will attract companies and jobs to Wisconsin. Not the reverse as the Republicans erroneously claim. It leaves some services for the insurance industry to provide, but not at the same level of profit they are accustomed to, so their opposition is understandable.
This plan will eliminate the issues of changing jobs with pre-existing diseases, and paying for COBRA between jobs, so it's a win-win for the state's economy.
The Canadian horror stories the Republicans spew are simply not true. Over 80 percent of Canadians prefer their system to ours, and their medical outcomes are better than ours. It is admittedly underfunded and they have wait times for non-urgent procedures, but the senate proposal is not underfunded as the Republicans will quickly charge. In a survey of 18,000 Canadians only twenty -- TWENTY -- purposely traveled to the U.S. for care that was non-urgent.
We enjoy the best physicians, hospitals and technology, but our method of providing health care is the most inefficient in the world because 31 percent of our costs are total waste created by the insurance bureaucracy. This is money that should instead be spent on patient care, and the Democratic plan fixes that.
But we have politicians who receive massive campaign contributions from the insurance companies who want to retain the status quo. And some even want to switch to a high deductible system whose tax write-offs will benefit the wealthy but poorly provide for the mainstream Wisconsinite. Like the early HMO system that failed, health savings accounts will go down in flames when patients who deter care until it is untreatable start costing more rather than less.
All of this brings up a major problem in Wisconsin politics. And it is bipartisan. When these issues are being debated, wouldn't it be nice to know that the politicians on the opposing side are not taking cash from the industry being affected? Campaign finance reform must be the legislature's next agenda item, but that too, is not a Republican priority.
Perhaps killing the health care bill is what we need to guaranty a Democratic win in the assembly too. And while I am an old-version Republican, sometimes your own kids' hands must be slapped before they learn.
The Republicans have simply not gotten the message yet. Maybe they will in 2008.
Jack Lohman is a retired business owner from Colgate and a founding member of www.BusinessCoalition.net. He authored "Politicians - Owned and Operated by Corporate America" and can be reached at jlohman@execpc.com.
3 Comments
This is a great first step and should not be allowed to fall by the wayside we need to do something now. As a unfortunate subscriper to a HSA major medical policy I know first hand how medical care is put on the back burner until it becomes an emergency because food on the table and a roof over your head comes first. Sad society when staying healthly is only for the priviledge I thought the caste social system was only a word in a history book!
A few comments:
First, if this plan is so great, why are teachers exempt?
Second, I am currently self-employed and receive health insurance through my wife. This new tax will cost me approximately $10,000 per year and I don't need government health insurance. Even if I needed health insurance, it would not cost me $10,000 a year. This is an incentive for small business persons earning an above median per capita income to leave the state or not start a new business.
Third, Wisconsin will become a magnet from other states for people with medical problems wanting to suck off our system. (Even if they have to stay in the state for a year).
Fourth, I don't trust the State of Wisconsin to manage anything. They are incompetent, unresponsive, and overstaffed. Do you think the same entity that runs the DMV (long lines), Dept of Revenue (Soc. Sec. # fiasco), Dept of Administration ($50MM computer fiasco), DNR (overzealous dictatorial bureaucrats), etc. will solve our health care "problems" at a fair price?
Does anyone trust the State in estimating costs? Also, when does rationing begin? Please!!!!!!!!
Fifth, a large majority of Americans are satisfied with their health care. We don't need the government to help a small minority (9% uninsured in Wisc.) by screwing up our current system.
Sixth, when did the Democrats run on this issue? We just had an election and no one ran on a 15% tax to socialize medical care. Where is the real public debate?
Finally, Jack Lohman should quit calling himself a Republican- even if its an old time country-club type. Just admit it, you are big-government liberal.
1. The state is not going to "manage" your health care. You'll go to the same doctors and hospitals as before and they'll continue managing it. They'll just send the bill to the qualified insurer of your choice.
2. If you are making $100,000 per year yet being insured by your wife's employer, you are playing an unfair game. That employer now must add your health care costs to his product price and we consumers reimburse him at the cash register. That makes him less competitive, and some Wisconsinite may lose his job to outsourcing because of it.
3. Many entrepreneurs are not leaving their jobs to start new businesses because they cannot get on their wife's insurance and cannot afford the $10-15K per year for their own insurance.
4. Teachers are exempt because they have a cap on salary.
5. This is not socialized medicine, like the VA or armed forces hospitals. It is a public-private plan that will have one public payer (like a state version of Medicare) and multiple private payers you can choose from (like a state version of Medicare Advantage). The latter will have a floor but no ceiling on the level of coverage, so you can supplement to your heart's content. Rationing does not exist with Medicare now, and as long as we continue paying 16% of GDP it will not exist under this system.
I think that this legislation is the start of what needs to be a systemic, holistic review of all aspects of our healthcare system, from delivery of services, billing transparency, pharmaceutical companies, etc. Namecalling and typical political ideology is not going to help us create the strong policy we need for a new system.