George Lightbourn
George Lightbourn is a Senior Fellow of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, and is a former Secretary of Administration for the State of Wisconsin.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007Keep Government out of the Examining RoomBy George LightbournCategories: Wisconsin“Healthy Wisconsin” is the most ambitious attack on the free health care marketplace in America. The single payer system was dropped into the Wisconsin budget at the last minute and has stirred a hornet’s nest of debate ever since. The plan’s sponsors tout “Healthy Wisconsin” as guaranteeing insurance for everybody at a lower price than we are now paying. For good measure, they even held out the prospect of a tax cut. (In the halls of the Capitol, when senators want to divert attention, they talk about a tax cut.) In spite of these lofty promises, this plan must be rejected. I’ve written separately about it being the largest tax increase in the history of Wisconsin – the plan is funded with a 14.5 percent tax on payroll that is guaranteed to grow every year – and that it will cause thousands of jobs to leave Wisconsin, and that for some reason unions are allowed to opt out of this health care system that is intended for everyone. My problem is that the plan passed by the Wisconsin Senate turns my health care over to my government. Apparently for the Senate it isn’t enough to tell me what I will have to pay and what plans I can choose. They step way over the line when they also want to tell my doctor how he should practice medicine. You won’t hear any of the advocates talk about exactly how “Healthy Wisconsin” will control health care costs, but right there in the language of the legislation they spell it out. In a section of the law titled, “Containment of Health Care Cost,” is a requirement that the Secretary of Administration “… establish, by rule, a program to contain health care costs in this state during any year in which the board determines that health care costs increase at a rate exceeding the national average of medical inflation …” The Secretary of Administration? That’s right, the Secretary of Administration is given the job of holding down health costs; a job sandwiched in the law between setting the rental rates for state buildings and overseeing a computerized personnel system. To see exactly how this will work we need look no further than the way the government controls costs under Medicare. A recent news article revealed that the federal government thought that too many physicians were ordering MRI scans. So they cut back on the number of allowable scans. Just like that, the government changed the way physicians practice medicine. In Wisconsin it will be the Secretary of Administration that will determine who can have an MRI scan, which prescription drugs are approved, how much pain I need to endure before my knee is replaced, etc. This is the dirty little secret that advocates for universal health care never mention. They contain costs by rationing care. It is this rationing that chaffs people throughout Canada and Europe. They envy the speed with which Americans can have our medical needs met. Many of the supporters of this “Healthy Wisconsin” plan have advocated keeping government out of the bedroom. For me, I’d like to keep government out of the examining room. Technorati tag: Healthy Wisconsin
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Thursday, August 9, 2007Healthy Wisconsin: It's for the Other GuyLook for the union label--and the fine print By George LightbournCategories: WisconsinOne of the most sweeping health care proposals came out of the Wisconsin State Senate last month. The health plan, dubbed Healthy Wisconsin, was dropped into the Senate version of the budget at the last possible minute. It was done quickly and surgically with no public input and almost no debate. Not surprisingly, Healthy Wisconsin is just the prescription that Michael Moore would offer to fix the health care system. It is funded by a 14.5 percent payroll tax – 10.5 percent on the employer and 4 percent on the worker. In all, the plan would require $15.2 billion – more than the entire state budget. It creates a large new government agency, complete with a politically appointed board to determine just how the $15.2 billion would be spent. Although the plan is fraught with problems, every left-leaning group in Wisconsin is out drumming up support for the plan. There at the head of the drum corps is the leadership of Wisconsin labor groups. But why would they take on this issue? Don’t they have their hands full given that they are struggling for members as they see jobs flowing out of Wisconsin and illegal workers flowing in? Why does labor need to take on health care? After all, don’t union members tend to have good health care coverage? Why would they want to push a plan that holds the prospect of trimming benefits? More important, why would they want to subject their members to a 4 percent payroll tax? The answer lies in the fine print of the Senate plan. The AFL-CIO is telling their members the truth. First of all, the contracts they now have that cover health insurance would remain. But even when those contracts expire their members would see little change. On paper their members would come under the umbrella of Healthy Wisconsin, including the benefit package. But, as the AFL-CIO points out, they see Healthy Wisconsin as a floor, not a ceiling. Unions can and will bargain for better benefits for their members and they can have management pick up all of the employee costs. So for labor, Healthy Wisconsin is that bold new health plan that really does not apply to them. Now I’m beginning to understand why labor is pushing the bold new health plan. It really doesn’t apply to them. It’s for the rest of Wisconsin, all of us that aren’t members of organized labor. Ah, you’ve gotta love that fine print.
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Monday, July 30, 2007"Healthy Wisconsin" is on Life SupportGov. Doyle keeping his distance By George LightbournCategories: WisconsinHealthy Wisconsin is the universal health care plan hatched at the eleventh hour in the Democratic controlled State Senate. Although the proposal is garnering national attention, there is little likelihood it will be enacted this session. Even Democratic Governor James Doyle is keeping his distance from the plan. Undoubtedly, the tax hike required by the plan is too much for Gov. Jim Doyle to tolerate. Technorati tag: Healthy Wisconsin
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