New Year, New Developments for Wisconsin

The New Year promises major progress when it comes to increasing competition in Wisconsin’s health care sector. 

Rep. Richards and I introduced the Health Care Transparency Bill (Senate Bill 418/Assembly Bill 614) earlier this month, and it has already had a public hearing before the Assembly Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform. The bill will encourage competition among health care providers by requiring them to provide health care consumers with the financial tools necessary to make informed decisions.

More employers are turning towards high deductible plans in response to skyrocketing premiums. These high deductible plans place more of the financial responsibility on the consumer, but the consumer’s ability to make informed decisions about care has been limited by a severe lack of available information and a complex pricing system. The Health Care Transparency Bill would require health care providers to disclose their prices.

Nowhere else are people asked to purchase a product without knowing ahead of time how much it's going to cost, and it should be the same with health care.

Under the Health Care Transparency Bill, consumers will have the right to receive a good faith estimate for the cost of a procedure, including out-of-pocket costs. In addition, health care providers will be required to make available a price list for their top 25 most frequently performed procedures.

Price disclosure will increase competition in the health care industry. Here’s why: As consumers begin to shop around for the best value, providers will compete on price and quality.

The bottom line is that people deserve to know the cost of their care. Period.

Laws Respond to Citizens’ Needs for New Year

Several of the bills I authored this session in response to your needs have been signed into law. Here’s a quick snapshot:

Drunk Driving Reform: Senate Bill 66 was signed into law on December 22. The law makes a fourth-offense OWI a felony if the driver has a previous OWI-related conviction within the previous five-year period.  It also criminalizes a first-offense OWI if a child is in the vehicle and expands statewide the successful Winnebago County Safe Streets Treatment Option Program.  Among its other provisions, the new law will require the installation of Ignition Interlock Devices (IID) for all repeat offenders as well as first-time offenders with a BAC of .15 or higher.  The new law takes effect on July 1, 2010.

U-Turns: As of January 1, 2010, drivers will be allowed to perform U-turns at controlled intersections unless there is a sign specifically prohibiting it. The new law will also allow vehicles to pass left-turning vehicles by using either the roadway or the paved shoulder. 

Indoor Environmental Quality: This law will help give schools a protocol to follow when dealing with indoor environmental quality issues.  It requires the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to convene a task force to develop a model management plan for indoor environmental quality in public and private schools.  Using the DPI plan as a model, school districts will be able to adopt a plan that best meets the needs of their community.

An informal survey and records requests from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and the former Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services identified almost 100 school buildings with concerns about indoor environmental quality. Failure to prevent and respond to indoor air problems promptly can have grave consequences for our teachers and students, including health problems, reduced performance and absenteeism.