Dealing with health care in Wisconsin

The Board of Directors of the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry has unanimously approved a new health care policy to address the current health care situation in Wisconsin which is adversely affecting the state’s business climate.  The last time the Board adopted a health care policy was June 2002. 

A Health Care Task Force comprised of Board members took up the task to review the situation and present findings to the full Board.  Task Force members included Karla Blair of Schenck Business Solutions, Fred Hauser of the YMCA of the Fox Cities, Tim Higgins of Chiropractic Services Network, Inc., Kelly Kornelly of Insurance Services, Trevor Rezner of Matthews Tire and Auto Service Center and Joe St. Marie.  The group did an extensive study with area business leaders and invited speakers before adopting the policy.

The Chamber believes the current competition in health care is dysfunctional. Competition is taking place at the wrong levels and on the wrong things.  Instead of competition that creates value for patients, it has gravitated to a zero-sum competition in which the gains of one system participant come at the expense of others. Participants compete to shift costs to one another, accumulate bargaining power, and limit services. This kind of competition does not create value for patients. 

The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry strongly supports the following positions:
- Actions that preserve the current voluntary employer-provided health coverage system.
- Efforts to contain premium costs.
- Conformity with federal tax treatment of Health Savings Accounts.
- Legislation allowing employers to offer more affordable benefit plans with choices in coverage.
- Wellness and disease management education programs.
- Curbing the expansion of litigation in the health care system.
- Creating incentives to promote quality and efficiency among health care providers, insurers
     and consumers.
- Policies that prevent cost shifting from government-provided programs to the private sector.
- Policies that encourage medical discoveries and innovations that improve quality of care.
- Policies that insure access to low cost pharmaceutical products.

The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry opposes:
- Proposals to establish a government-run health care delivery system in Wisconsin.

The Chamber applauds the leadership of Wisconsin health care systems and health insurance firms in creating the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) and the Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO).  The WCHQ has begun the process of establishing and measuring quality standards, and of publicly reporting the results.  The WHIO will provide access to cost information.  With these tools consumers will begin to have the ability to make value judgments (value = quality/cost) in seeking care.

For more detailed information about the health care policy and steps that are to be taken contact the Chamber at (920) 734-7101 or e-mailing to information@foxcitieschamber.com.