Some (but not all)
Republican legislators are pressing the “scare” button to get
Wisconsin citizens to oppose the “Healthy Wisconsin” proposal
recently passed by the Senate Democrats as part of the Budget.
They call it a $15.2 B
payroll tax increase. The reality is that this $15.2 B will
replace the $18.5 B currently being spent on purchasing health
insurance and providing health care. “Healthy Wisconsin” is not a
tax increase: it simply substitutes a sliding scale payroll tax for
the premiums we currently pay for health insurance—and saves money
in the process!
So we spend a couple of
billion dollars less and we all get the same health care the
Governor and our legislators get. In addition, about 450,000
Wisconsinites who are currently uninsured get covered by a
comprehensive health care plan—that they pay for through an
affordable payroll tax. But in total we pay less! What’s wrong
with this plan?
Savings for employers as
well as for the rest of us are impressive. Private sector employers
who currently provide some level of health insurance to their
employees save in total $686 M per year. State and local government
entities (including school districts), save $1.3B—and half of the
local savings will be passed on to us as property tax cuts (total:
at least $500 M).
Republican leaders and
so-called business organizations are screaming “tax increase!”,
“socialized medicine!”
Poppy-cock. “Healthy
Wisconsin” simply reduces unnecessary bureaucratic administrative
costs and cost-shifting and thus makes it possible to guarantee
better health care to everyone for less than we’re spending now.
We’ll all be able to choose our own doctor. There would be no
significant change to the private health care delivery system.
Businesses that currently
pay good wages and benefits gain the most: so that gives a powerful
economic development incentive to firms that pay family-supporting
wages to expand in Wisconsin. And it encourages out-of-state firms
looking to expand to move to Wisconsin.
Firms that operate in
more than one state have testified that if “Healthy Wisconsin” is
implemented, their health insurance costs will be lower in Wisconsin
than any other state.
Small businesses also
have a great deal to gain: they pay the most for health insurance,
but get far fewer benefits than larger groups are able to negotiate.
If Republican leaders are
as “pro-business” as they profess, they should be leading the fight
to pass “Healthy Wisconsin”, not trying to kill it. Do the math:
“Healthy Wisconsin” benefits businesses as well as workers.
We all need health care
at some point in our lives. Let’s not let ideologically-driven
special interests take that away from us.
For our elected leaders,
the underlying issue here is courage and commitment. Early in the
20th century, when Wisconsin was truly a progressive
state, we initiated the first workers’ compensation and unemployment
insurance systems. They were a model for America and were
eventually adopted nationwide. Let’s enact “Healthy Wisconsin”. It
will benefit us all—and again make Wisconsin a model for the nation.