One Reason Why Wisconsin Has Such High Health Insurance Rates

Issue of the Week

Sep. 08, 2015

3:46 p.m.

If Gov. Scott Walker was really serious about growing Wisconsin’s economy, he’d try to address issues that really hurt Wisconsin businesses by making sure that our businesses and families have access to affordable health insurance. Unfortunately, the Walker administration has done little to nothing to bring down the cost of health insurance in the state. Incredibly, a recent Commonwealth Fund analysis found that the cost of individual policies in Wisconsin is among the most expensive in the country.

That could change if Walker heeds the call of state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and state Rep. Debra Kolste (D-Janesville), who have introduced a bill that would shine a spotlight on insurance companies that want to hike their rates by requiring that rate increases are approved in advance, that they’re justified by underlying medical costs, and that the entire process is open and transparent. Unfortunately when it comes to our insurance commissioner, we have a fox guarding the henhouse. Insurance Commissioner Ted Nickel, a former insurance industry lobbyist appointed by Walker to his current position, has approved every rate increase insurers have asked for, according to Citizen Action of Wisconsin, despite many rate increases in the 20% to 30 % range. That’s resulted in higher insurance costs for businesses, families and individuals, with even higher rates expected in 2016, Citizen Action warns. Since most larger businesses pay a majority of the costs of health insurance for their employees, these higher rates makes Wisconsin much less competitive as a location when companies look to move to another state.

We call on Republicans who dominate the Legislature and Walker to support the bill and encourage Nickel to scrutinize insurance companies’ rate requests. After all, high insurance rates are a drain on families’ budgets and make it tougher for Wisconsin businesses to compete against businesses in states—such as Minnesota—with lower insurance costs. If Walker truly cared about the wellbeing of Wisconsinites, he’d support this bill and make living and doing business in Wisconsin more affordable.

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Comments (11)

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The obvious cause of high-priced healthcare is tha...

The obvious cause of high-priced healthcare is that company-paid insurance screws with the law of supply and demand. It allowed prices to rise fast because nobody shops for best value when someone else is paying the bill, it is like a 4-star restaurant handing the menu with no prices on it to the woman at the table knowing her man cannot turn her down for ordering what sounds the most extravagant, (kind of an extortion in its own way).I will tell what else pre-ACA insurance did to screw up the natural law of supply and demand free market system, and I mean the pursuit of quality results.By allowing the old way to not treat pre-existing conditions, their network doctors never had to be good at real treatment of illness. Basically all they had to do was identify who to lay off or fire. Trust me, business knew how to kick those people out of the workplace once a condition was developed or discovered, then they knew how to avoid rehiring them again, avoid continued treatment of the condition.So PPO and HMO "in-network" doctors never had to deal with the patients who really needed help for long. Therefore no true quality results, no "outcome-based" reimbursements. In the uninsured private system that is called "money back warranties", no such thing in pre-ACA healthcare. All they did was enough testing to avoid malpractice while they discovered who was really "too sick to profitably treat".

WaukeshaGuy more than 10 years ago

Walker will not heed the call because it is sponso...

Walker will not heed the call because it is sponsored by Democrats. Democrats, his "enemy" that sided with Obama and believes in a person with no income having as strong of a vote as a billionaire.Since Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, this is the new model of political campaigning. Make a deal with a handful of wealthy donors instead of making a deal with 51% of the people. It's not hard to con 51% of the people if you use guns, racism, immigration, religion, just remember where your money is coming from, be loyal to the donor above all. Business is now using our government to set up faster ways of making money, money from us, the hard-workers. (Can't make money from non-workers, it must be from us)Walker is going to support the ability of the Insurance companies to make money. Part of why his "Day One" promise to repeal Obamacare without a real replacement. Must remove the 20% cap on insurance company profits.In my opinion, 20% is way too much of a "skim" of our premium dollars that we really want to go toward paying our healthcare claims. Better to let a worker save while young so it will be there when they get old.Remember what else Walker did. When he made State workers start paying a portion of their insurance premiums without a corresponding increase in gross pay, don't you see that a precursor of things to come? Like removing the practice of any private business to pay any part of an employee's premium. Just like a 29 hour per week part-timer on Obamacare.

WaukeshaGuy more than 10 years ago

The purpose of all businesses is to move money fro...

The purpose of all businesses is to move money from the paying customer to the business owner. Does not matter if that is making widgets or providing a service, it is about "earning" money (as in moving it in, not really creating it). Knowing that the game is over when the customers have run out of money and cannot borrow anymore, the urgency is to make that money as fast as possible, faster than the other owner.Doctors have to make money, Hospital real estate has to make money, the insurance system has to make money. Where is the incentive to really help patients in all this? Nowhere. They only want to take money from those who can pay.It is a basic requirement of anyone in business to bring in money faster than it is spent, so the difference can go into the owners pocket. If not earning more than expenses, the owner will close it down before all his wealth is gone. No reason to provide jobs or services if you are not making money.That's what is the problem... The world is not broken, we people are broken. We all are given 24 hours a day, regardless of there being a paycheck or not. If Society can set up a system where people can apply their time to keeping it all in balance, creating and doing "stuff" with the time that our skilled citizens can contribute comfortably, things can work. Problem is, too many of us are just plain selfish, don't want to make it work well enough to cover everyone.

WaukeshaGuy more than 10 years ago

So Scott Walker will take on the special interest ...

So Scott Walker will take on the special interest group that is unions that represent workers to fight for families.Will he take on the special interest group that is the insurance companies to fight for families?I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

grumpy greg more than 10 years ago

I doubt a couple of nobody state legislators with ...

I doubt a couple of nobody state legislators with no power or credibility will suddenly get our rates down. Best they have to offer is slow the increase.Health insurance is expensive all over. People just need to learn its going to cost a lot of money. How much is good health worth to you? Everything you got.

djlresearch more than 10 years ago

Several other countries have lower health care cos...

Several other countries have lower health care costs with better quality health care. What we have here is not inevitable, it can be changed. Yes, good health is worth a great deal, we finally agree on something, djl, but it doesn't have to be so costly as other countries have proven.

notstupid more than 10 years ago

Those countries are usually single payer systems. ...

Those countries are usually single payer systems. We don't have that here. And we are not wired to do that. We are more of a survival of the fittest type country not the fairest.I have wealthy friends in Canada. One need a knee replacement and was put on a 7 month waiting list. At the end of 7 months his doctor retired and he was put back in the queue. So he took $100k and went to Seattle and paid his own bill, although I think the Canadian government might have chipped in a little. There are cash clinics all over Canada for those who don't want to be put in a government health queue.

djlresearch more than 10 years ago

We can have a single payer system here. Medicare,...

We can have a single payer system here. Medicare, Medicaid are single payers systems. There are also many good news stories from Canada. Not all systems work perfectly all the time, as we know about the insurance system we have now and had before ACA.

notstupid more than 10 years ago

Have you ever heard of someone on Medicaid that be...

Have you ever heard of someone on Medicaid that beat cancer? I have heard in Canada that you can get emergency surgery for emergencies. But they don't have the best and brightest and richest doctors. If you are on Medicaid, the very best doctors will not see you. Medicaid is not going to proved the kind of payments that will put a guy in a $2 million home and provide him with vacation homes. The only way a doctor can get really wealthy treating Medicaid patients is to run them through as fast as he can and see 50 patients a day. Good luck getting the top clinics with miracle cures to accept Medicaid.

djlresearch more than 10 years ago

Once again, you do not have the facts. Yes, it ca...

Once again, you do not have the facts. Yes, it can be hard to get exceptional care on Medicaid, which is for those with a low income, as many doctors reject it, but Planned Parenthood provides high quality care and the majority of its revenue comes from Medicaid. However, if the patient has insurance, they bill the insurance. That's how it works. You have, however, ignored Medicare, which serves millions of retired Americans. They can choose almost any doctor and have most of the bill paid by Medicare. Medicare supplement insurance will take care of most of the rest of it, with small co-pays sometimes. You will find that most people are very happy with Medicare. Top clinics accept Medicare. Think about it; most people getting medical services in hospitals are 65 or over, and have Medicare. Hospitals and clinics cannot survive without Medicare and Medicaid income, unless they happen to be in a location with high reimbursement insurers and a highly insured population, which is rare. By the way, the only way that Planned Parenthood can survive with a large proportion of Medicaid patients is that their staff is not highly paid AND many people donate money to be sure that women and men everywhere of all income levels have access to quality medical care.

notstupid more than 10 years ago

Medicaid patients are a money loser for hospitals....

Medicaid patients are a money loser for hospitals. I suppose its better than not getting paid at all by the freeloaders. Medicare is about break even. Private insurance is where they make about 30-40% profit.Yeah, you better get supplement insurance.Believe me , ask any hospital finance person and they would gladly love not to accept Medicaid types if they were not forced to. My doctor told me no more Medicaid, Medicare, or ACA. Only now accepts private insurance.

djlresearch more than 10 years ago