How many employees
will you have to cut to afford this?
Legislative Alert!
Dear Concerned Employer:
We want to make you aware of a proposal that will be included in the Wisconsin Biennial Budget next session (January/February ’09). Whether you are a small business employer (currently defined in Wisconsin as one that employs up to 50 employees) or whether you employ more than 50 employees, YOU WILL BE IMPACTED!
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Not all of the details are clear, but what we do know is that the proposal, known as BadgerChoice, seeks to expand the current Medicaid-based program to accomplish the following:
- Create a mandatory “connector” program that will remove your current small group medical insurance plan and replace it with a government run program.
- Remove your choice to keep your existing small group plan.
- Provide other employers and their employees with subsidies from your tax dollars to help them purchase a group plan, of which you have no control over their plan or whether they have included a wellness plan or other measures to hold down costs.
- Create community rating for health plans participating in the connector program which would cause insurance premiums to rise for roughly 66% of all existing small employers in order to “potentially” reduce the premiums for roughly 33% of employers as proposed today.
- Require all small employers that currently offer a group medical plan to receive coverage through BadgerChoice only.
- Eliminate your choice to involve independent insurance agents in the insurance process which today involves marketing, bidding and negotiations with competitive carriers to arrive at a plan design and cost that is suitable to the needs of your business and your employees. This would also eliminate the impartial service assistance provided to you and your employees by your independent agency staff for your medical coverage and leave you to deal with a government “hub” center.
- Model the program off of the State of Wisconsin Employees plan, which is far more expensive than your health insurance plan for you and your employees. Your tax dollars are already paying for the most expensive health plan in Wisconsin (State Employees Plan)!
For a small employer participating in the proposed mandatory program, the impact outlined above is clear. However, a large employer will also suffer from the cost burden that will be shifted from the public program to what’s left of the private sector (look at the impact of Medicare and Medicaid to date)!
Once the private market is gone, it cannot be replaced, leaving only government-sponsored health care coverage to exist. The total cost of such a system to taxpayers is not yet known. That, in and of itself, is a problem. Additionally, in Phase I of BadgerCare Plus expansion, the cost to Wisconsin taxpayers was $16 million more than what was originally projected. The existing BadgerCare program is $25 million over budget and the Department that handles BadgerCare has requested an additional $580 million in the next budget just to keep the current program afloat!
Last but not least, let’s not let ourselves get distracted from what the real problem is…cost. The reason medical insurance is expensive is because the underlying medical costs are expensive and the BadgerCare proposal does NOTHING to reduce costs! Ironically, it will increase costs as has been evidenced by other state-run models that have been launched as in Massachusetts.
It is extremely important that you contact your State Representative, State Senator and Governor Doyle and tell them that you oppose replacing the private market with Medicaid coverage. Feel free to use this sample letter to send to your government official. For your convenience, here is a link to access contact info for your Legislators and the Governor: Identify your legislators to contact them. Your voice can make a difference. If we do not speak out, we can blame ourselves for what might lie ahead.
