Opinion
Gov. Walker: Our Obsolete Approach to Medicaid
In recent years Washington has taken an obsolete program, which covers health care for low-income Americans, and made it worse through restrictive rule-making that defies common sense. It is biased toward caring for people in nursing homes rather than in their own homes and neighborhoods. It lacks the flexibility to help patients who require some nursing services, but not round-the-clock care. (NEW YORK TIMES, 4/22)
Editorial: Health care costs at heart of budget crisis
Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill has created tension between public and private sector workers. Everyone can agree, however, on a core issue in the debate: Health care costs are way too high, writes the Appleton Post Crescent in a recent editorial. (APPLETON POST CRESCENT, 2/25)
Rep. Pasch: Medical aid programs in jeopardy
Tens of thousands of individuals have descended upon the state Capitol in response to Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget adjustment” proposal. While there has been much attention on the provisions that roll back rights and benefits for Wisconsin public workers, there is a relatively little-known proposal in the same bill that could have severe consequences for our state’s medical assistance programs, writes Rep. Sandy Pasch, D-Whitefish Bay, in a column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/18)
Column: Workplace Wellness–from Slogan to Reality
There are numerous carefully crafted definitions of “wellness.” For me, it simply means feeling healthy, writes Tim Size, Executive Director of the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative in a new column. The challenge is how do we each make it happen? What incentives at work and home are most effective in helping us to engage in our own health over the long run? (WHN, 2/14)
Kind: Making health care affordable is deficit reduction step 1
Rising health care costs are the largest and fastest growing area of spending in the federal budget. If we do not address how health care is delivered and how we pay for it, we will never reduce the deficit, writes Rep. Ron Kind, D-WI. (WHN, 2/11)
Editorial: Wisconsin saves with Obamacare (but Wisconsinites don't)
The “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” as it has been amply documented, will dump millions of patients into inferior care not of their choosing and will most likely make health care less affordable, writes Patrick McIlheran of the Journal Sentinel. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/1)
Editorial: How shopping around saves Wisconsin schools some health-care money
It’s not just Milton’s public schools looking to get away from WEA Insurance Trust, the health care outfit set up by the state’s largest teachers union. Quite a few districts have been shopping around and migrating away from the union plan, which so far has dominated the health care market for school districts, writes Patrick McIlheran of the Journal Sentinel. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/27)
Opinion: 'Abuser Protection Act' of 2011
Wisconsin has a long history of commitment to a high quality of life for its vulnerable residents. It is a reason we should feel safe moving an aging parent into a nursing home when we can no longer care for them at home. But the actions of our state Legislature last week have taken us a step backward, writes a group of statewide aging and disability groups. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/25)
Editorial: A healthy tax break for Wisconsin
It was a modest yet needed change. Gov. Scott Walker on Monday signed his first bill into law — a state tax break for people with health savings accounts. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 1/25)
Editorial: Best health care transparency is useful
Hospitals in Wisconsin are required by law to publicize their rate increases each year. It’s good the public knows that. We know that a 3 or 4 percent increase is better than a 5 percent increase, which is about the statewide average. And we know that a 3 or 4 percent increase outpaces the rate of inflation, so we understand health care costs are rising more quickly than we can pay for it. (APPLETON POST CRESCENT, 1/25)
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