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HEALTH CARE; Costs That Stymie State's Economy

Posted on: Sunday, 27 November 2005, 15:00 CST

By RESLER

On the same day General Motors Corp. announced massive restructuring to slash its operating costs, an annual national survey demonstrated once again that companies in Wisconsin face similar pressures.

Health care costs are a major culprit. Barring a federal solution, the state must act to rein these in while making health care accessible for its residents. It can be done.

According to the survey by Mercer Health & Benefits LLC, the total cost of providing health benefits in Wisconsin rose 9.2% this year to an average of $9,321 for each employee 31% more than the national average. The survey included more than 3,000 employers nationally, 97 in Wisconsin.

The survey underscores what has become a disturbing refrain in the Badger state for companies trying to compete in the hypercompetitive global marketplace: Health care costs here continue to outpace the national and Midwest averages.

The Wisconsin health care marketplace is part of the problem. This past summer, a survey by the federal Government Accountability Office found that physician fees, though not overall health care costs, are higher in Wisconsin than in other states.

Wisconsin employers expect that their benefit costs will increase by only 6.6% next year because they will shift some costs to employees. The national projection is for a 6.7% increase in employee health benefit costs in 2006.

But simply shifting costs doesn't get at the heart of the problem. A multilayered approach is necessary.

Employers must begin putting more money into wellness programs, disease management and risk assessment.

And Wisconsin needs to do a better job overall of making employees better health care consumers by providing them with comprehensive cost and quality information about health care providers in the state, including hospitals and large clinics.

But we continue to believe the best way to rein in health care costs is to tackle the problem on a statewide rather than a local basis.

What Wisconsin needs, says state Rep. Curt Gielow (R-Mequon), chairman of the Assembly Medicaid Reform Committee, is a more systemic approach. Simply negotiating better prices with major health care providers, as many employers now do, "is just cosmetic nipping and tucking" Gielow says. He's right.

Earlier this year, Gielow proposed, along with state Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee), a statewide insurance pool, financed by a payroll tax, to help businesses cope with rising health care costs and to provide care for the large number of uninsured state residents.

But what about that national solution? During the last presidential campaign, health care was high on the radar screen but quickly slipped off, replaced by, among other things, the war in Iraq. Unless this nation tackles the problem of health care more aggressively and creatively, it will face dire social and economic consequences.

In the face of shameful federal inaction, Wisconsin must step in. The Gielow-Richards solution is a great place to start the discussion.

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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