Wisconsin Health Plan Follow-up...Chapter One

Further exploration of the issues surrounding the Wisconsin Health Plan has turned up some very interesting items.

It seems that the Lewin Study discusses an Option 1 that was really the original Plan up until March, 2007. This “option” is actually the original legislation introduced as AB 1140 and is the plan that was the subject of the Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis. This “option” was presented to everyone as the health care solution that would be fully funded by an assessment of from 3% to 12% of payroll to be paid by employers, and an accompanying assessment of 2% on employee wages.

An independent analysis by the Wisconsin Hospital Association at the time concluded that this plan was under funded by anywhere from $3 billion to $5 billion. This was met by strong disagreement from the author of the WHP.

Buried in the Lewin Study is the fact that the original Plan was indeed under funded by $3.6 billion. It seems strange that this has not been published. If one didn’t know better, it could almost appear as if the author of the Plan was being a bit disingenuous simply to assure that his Plan would continue moving forward. Apparently the end does sometimes justify the means. When you know best what is right for the 5 million citizens of the state, it simply would not do to have facts derail the proposal.

In fact, the March 2nd version of the report pointed out the fatal flaws of the original Plan, and yet that information has not seen the light of day other than in wonk circles.

Stay tuned…more to come!