WI Firms Pay 22% More for Health Insurance- with Soultions Offered by Insuring Resources

Insuring Resources Commentary:

Wisconsin business is at a huge disadvantage in the national marketplace because we pay so much more for health insurance, according to new research by Mercer. Part of the reason, I believe, is because Wisconsin health care providers get paid less on average for treating people on Medicare so the costs are shifted on to the private sector side.

Now if health care reform includes a public plan option that covers small businesses and uses Medicare reimbursement rates the situation will get much worse for Wisconsin businesses.

Solution:
Health care reform must
1. level the Medicare reimbursement to bring Wisconsin up where it should be. Wisconsin providers are paid much less by Medicare than the national average.

2.if we have a public plan option that includes coverage for small businesses it must not use Medicare reimbursement rates UNLESS, Medicare can finally start to negotiate rates with providers. Right now, Medicare reimbursement rates are set by the feds, NOT negotiated in the marketplace. With the purchasing power of the federal government insuring tens of millions of people on Medicare this should be a no-brainer.

3. In addition, as I've said all along, providers need reimbursement incentives to make their care more efficient and reduce the waste. The Senate bill includes pilots for this but that doesn't go far enough, we need these efficiency incentives to be standard across the entire system.

4. And finally, Wisconsin cannot be penalized for having a higher rate of insured persons. There are incentives in the House bill that gives grant money to states with higher uninsured pct.s to help them along. This actually hurts states like Wisconsin that have been proactive. For instance- Wisconsin covers childless adults through BadgerCare up to 200% of FPL. Louisiana covers them up to 26% of FPL!!! If the House reform language passes Lousiana gets extra money to bring their insured numbers up to 150% while Wisconsin already surpasses that. By the way-- thanks to Wisconsin DHS Secretary Karen Timberlake for providing the Louisiana stat at a health care forum I attended in Madison yesterday.


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State firms pay 22% more for health insurance than U.S., survey shows By Rick Romell of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Nov. 18, 2009 10:14 a.m.

Wisconsinites continue to pay more for health insurance than Americans generally, and the costs here have increased more rapidly, a new survey by benefits consulting firm Mercer shows.

Wisconsin companies and their employees paid an average of $10,888 per worker for health insurance in 2009 - nearly 22% above the national average of $8,945, Mercer found.

And the cost gap between Wisconsin and the rest of the country widened. Nationally, the cost of health benefits for active employees rose 5.5% for the year, the smallest annual increase in a decade. In Wisconsin, costs increased by 6.8%.

Mercer's findings are based on a late-summer survey of more than 2,900 employers with at least 10 employees each. Eighty-eight Wisconsin employers were surveyed.