Progressive Thinking

New health insurance plans offer relief from runaway pharmaceutical prices. Wisconsin health consumers will save over $209 million.

WISCONSIN - At news conferences in four cities yesterday Citizen Action of Wisconsin announced that for 2017 some major insurance carriers in Wisconsin will be offering new health plans designed by the federal government to provide immediate relief from skyrocketing prescription drug prices and other medical costs. The announcement took place in Appleton, Wausau, Milwaukee, and Madison.

Deductibles jumped 40% this year in Wisconsin, yet the Walker Administration has refused to take any meaningful steps to address high medical prices. To fill the gap, advocates and state legislators took matters into their own hands by directly lobbying Wisconsin health insurance companies to adopt new Federal plans designed to combat high deductibles.

The savings generated because of the introduction of these new plans are dramatic. The average health consumer purchasing insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace stands to save $1,462 Rx deductibles and $3,482 on other high value medical services. Overall Citizen Action of Wisconsin estimates the new plans will save Wisconsin health consumers over $209 million per year in lower deductibles.

At the Capitol news conference Senator Jon Erpenbach and Representative Melissa Sargent represented Democratic legislators who joined Citizen Action in asking Wisconsin health insurers to offer “Low Out-of- Pocket” plans.

These new health plans will have the following common features:

• $0 deductibles for prescription drugs (generic, brand name and specialty)

• $0 deductible for Primary Care Visits to Treat an Injury or Illness

• $0 deductible for Specialist Visits

• $0 deductible for Mental/Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Disorder Outpatient

• Manageable co-pays that do not differ company to company.

Four companies have so far confirmed to Citizen Action their intention to introduce ”Low Out-of-Pocket” health plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace for 2017.

1. Molina Healthcare

2. Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative

3. Group Health Cooperative of South Central WI

4. Network Health

“The introduction of new cost saving health plans in Wisconsin shows it is possible to use the tools provided by the health care reform law to make tangible progress on medical and prescription drug affordability,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “Even more progress on skyrocketing health care costs would be possible if Governor Walker and conservatives in the State Legislature would cease their efforts to sabotage health reform, and join health advocates in working to guaranteed quality affordable health care in Wisconsin.”

Chart:

Average Current 2016 Deductibles by County (reduced to $0 for some services in “Low Out of Pocket” Health Plans)

* - Average deductible based on all silver plans available in county 2016 individual market without cost sharing

** - 42 county weighted average shows what the average resident in these 42 counties that will feature Low Out-of-Pocket health plans currently see for deductibles. Weighted by total enrollment.

More information on the features of the new health plans, and on savings in each Wisconsin County, can be found here.

Over the years, problems with the facilities and quality of care at the King Veterans Home have raised concerns across the state. This week, we approved a nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau investigation to consider both financial and quality of care issues at King.

MADISON - “There used to be a real nice coffee shop. But they turned it into vending machines,” David Wedde told the Joint Committee on Audit.

To many it might seem like an insignificant thing but it was not just a coffee shop. It was a symbol of comradely at the Veterans Home in King. Everyday veterans gathered in the shop to trade stories. Now impersonal machines have replaced the shop – a victim of budget cuts.

Tim Michael added, “Shouldn’t be so hard to get treatment for PTSD. Why do we have a surplus when we need these things?”

A few moments after the two Navy veterans from Waupaca County testified, the entire committee voted to approve a comprehensive performance audit of the King Veterans Home.

A Capital Times investigative report recently highlighted problems at the state-run facility. Stories of difficulties at King trickled out of Waupaca County for many years. Over the years, Senator Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) whose district is near King, made inquiries related to problems at King. A year ago, Sen. Lassa requested the Joint Audit Committee co-chairs move forward with an audit.

Later, Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) requested an audit and detailed what an investigation should include. The nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) included many of his suggestions in its scope for the proposed audit.

During the hearing, committee members (of which I serve as ranking minority member) heard conflicting testimony. State officials were quick to remind members the state administered Veterans Homes received four and five star quality ratings from state and federal inspections.

Yet allegations from residents, family members, and employees (both current and former), as reported in the media, paint a different picture. Employees and residents struggled with shortages but were afraid of retribution if they complained.

Committee members heard about administrative and financial problems. Staff shortages, forced overtime and inadequate wages led to high staff turnover and poor quality of care.

Budget cuts resulted in buildings without air conditioning, dilapidated equipment, and lost opportunities for residents like day trips to ball games. Volunteers testified that no doctor was on staff for the veterans, which meant anyone with medical needs was transported for care. Often veterans were not properly clothed for winter trips.

Administrators eliminated services that symbolized a high quality environment – like the coffee shop and pontoon boat rides on the lake – that gave King its home-like atmosphere.

Legislators, residents and advocates all asked how “surplus” money could be transferred away from the Veterans Home at a time when routine maintenance was delayed and staff were poorly paid.

State officials emphasized they created financial solvency from the deficit they inherited. They described the general fund tax dollars used by the administration to infuse the veterans programs and stated this was the first time since 1988 that state general fund dollars were transferred to bail out the ailing Veterans Trust Fund.

I found it difficult to reconcile the allegations of poor quality care, old equipment, worn out buildings, and untrained staff with administration officials’ repeated reference to four and five star quality ratings.

Reading through documents and letters I received, it appears state officials sacrificed things that made King special to veterans in favor of budget cuts. Mysteriously, these cuts happened at a time when “surplus” monies were transferred to cover deficits in other programs. Getting to the bottom of this problem is exactly why we need a nonpartisan audit that follows both the money and the quality of care for veterans.

Problems at the state’s veteran homes are not new. As a former chair of the audit committee, I joined co-chair Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) to approve a 2010 investigation that exposed many financial problems and led to recommendations on consistent rate setting; hiring and overtime costs; and resolving lax financial administration.

Senator Olsen reflected the feelings of many lawmakers, including myself, when he eloquently described the audit:

“If there are problems at King, we must shine a light on them and we do not rest until we figure out how to resolve them in a manner benefiting our veterans that demonstrates our utmost respect and gratitude for their selfless service to our great country.”

To the state leaders: we can start with something simple but important like bringing back the coffee shop.

***

Senator Vinehout serves as the ranking member of the audit committee which unanimously approved the audit.

MADISON - On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed a formal complaint with the IRS against Wisconsin Club for Growth.

Here’s why: All we want is some modicum of justice. All we want is someone in authority, somewhere, to rule that the flagrant scheming by Walker and Wisconsin Club for Growth was wrong and to hold them accountable.

Some background: Scott Walker’s campaign strategist, R. J. Johnson, was simultaneously running Wisconsin Club for Growth. Walker and Johnson turned Wisconsin Club for Growth into a funnel for huge, secret donations that they then used to finance ads to help keep Walker in office, Justice David Prosser on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and Republican state senators in the majority.

This was not only a scheme to circumvent the Wisconsin campaign finance law that was on the books at the time, which imposed limits on donations, required disclosure of donors, and prohibited coordination between candidates (like Walker) and outside groups (like Wisconsin Club for Growth).

It was also a scheme that ran afoul of IRS regulations.

You see, Wisconsin Club for Growth is registered with the IRS as a (501)(4) “social welfare” organization.

According to an Aug. 9, 2016, notice by the IRS, “The promotion of social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. However, a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization may engage in some political activities, so long as that is not its primary activity.”

But, as was made clear in the recent blockbuster article in The Guardian newspaper, “Because Scott Walker Asked,” the “primary activity” of Wisconsin Club for Growth in 2011 and 2012 was to engage in electioneering.

Our complaint also alleges that Wisconsin Club for Growth engaged in improper and deceptive fundraising practices.

In essence, Wisconsin Club for Growth was raising money not for itself and its own independent “social welfare” efforts, but for electioneering activity guided by Scott Walker and R. J. Johnson.

Walker personally met with millionaires and billionaires and directed them to give to Wisconsin Club for Growth.

It then sprinkled the money around. Wisconsin Club for Growth sent four checks totaling $2.5 million to Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce in April and May of 2012. It also sent four checks totaling $1,520,000 to Citizens for a Strong America in the first half of 2012. And it sent two checks totaling $550,000 to the American Federation for Children in May of 2012. These groups then used this money to run electioneering ads in accordance with the wishes of R. J. Johnson, acting on behalf of Scott Walker.

As Kate Doner, one of his fundraisers, wrote in an email on April 28, 2011: “As the Governor discussed with Mr. Pickens, he wants all the issue advocacy efforts to run thru one group to ensure correct messaging…. The Governor is encouraging all to invest in the Wisconsin Club for Growth. Wisconsin Club for Growth can accept Corporate and Personal donations without limitations and no donor disclosure.”

R. J. Johnson was in charge of “correct messaging.” He even focused on the tiniest details. In an email on Sept. 5, 2012, from Johnson to his assistant Deb Jordahl, as well as to Scott Jensen of American Federation for Children, Johnson said of the American Federation for Children ad that was in the works: “I think the alternative in the middle part with no picture works well. Once we have a font resolution we can move.”

Walker clearly knew what was going on. He bragged about the role Johnson and the Wisconsin Club for Growth played. In an email to Karl Rove on May 4, 2011, Walker wrote: "Bottom Line: RJ helps keeps in place a team that is wildly successful in Wisconsin.”

To date, the highest elected official in Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Club for Growth have been able to flout the law and get away with it.

They have the system rigged here because the conservative justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are in their pocket and obediently threw out the John Doe II investigation into this matter back in July 2015.

Since we can’t get justice in Wisconsin, we’re going to try to get justice in Washington.

Last we looked, Walker and the Wisconsin Club for Growth don’t have the IRS in their pockets.

***

This article was first published by the Wisconsin State Journal. You can share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.

We Americans always will have our disagreements. But three goals should be about right and wrong rather than left and right. Create an economy that serves all, making education affordable, and bringing high-speed Internet and mobile phone service to every doorstep.

ALTOONA, WI - No doubt about it, Americans are at each other’s throats, politically speaking. Some consider themselves Democrats, and most of them are not terribly fond of their party but absolutely can’t stand Republicans. Others call themselves Republicans, and most who do have no great love of their party either but are driven mad by Democrats.

Most numerous of all are the independents, who are turned off by both and refuse to wear either major party label. But even self-described independents tend to lean when it comes time to vote, reliably favoring one of the major parties. The thing is, these days they lean not toward what they like most but rather in the opposite direction of what they fear and hate.

Against this backdrop, it can be hard to see where to even start the search for common ground in America.

Part of the problem is that we’ve all been conditioned to think and talk about politics in ways that drive wedges between us and make us active participants in our own disempowerment. One secret to escaping the trap we’re in is to consciously and creatively work to change our political vocabulary, discarding words like “left” and “right” and “liberal” or “conservative” in favor of terms that could knit us together instead of tear us apart.

Another strategy worth giving a try is to steer conversations away from programs and policies and ideologies and toward discussions of what kind of society we want. We argue about things like food stamps and other forms of public assistance. One person sees a safety net, another sees a hammock. The argument accomplishes nothing except to further convince each that the other is evil.

How about changing the conversation, focusing instead on how to create an economy where if you work you won’t be poor? Each side has no choice but to admit that we don’t currently have such an economy. That’s some common ground right there. Some more might be found once we start talking about how to build one.

Here are three goals for our country that are about right and wrong rather than left and right.

Create an economy that makes the term “working poor” disappear from our vocabulary. This is no small task. But if we can’t all agree that those who go to work every day should not go hungry or be unable to afford shelter, then what kind of nation do we have? Who are we as a people?

If we’re serious about reaching this goal, there are at least two others that need to be pursued too.

When most people in this country lived off the land, a high school diploma wasn’t essential to making a decent living. When most American workers moved to factories and offices, more schooling was needed. In this digital age and with the emergence of an increasingly global economy, living the American Dream depends on even more education and training. That being the case, there has to be a commitment to making education as affordable for our kids and grandkids as past generations made it for us. The education needed to be able to live the kind of life I wanted to live was remarkably inexpensive and readily attainable in my youth. Today’s young people are being buried under a mountain of debt to get what they need to make it in life. That’s not right.

And given the world we now live in, you can’t run a business or do most jobs or fully participate in American life without access to 21st Century information and communications technology. Every American needs it. Not every American has it. That reality challenges us to do what it takes to bring high-speed Internet and mobile phone service to every American doorstep.

We Americans always will have our disagreements. But let’s at least try to argue about how to reach goals we all can agree on.

We decided to file a formal IRS complaint against Wisconsin Club for Growth, alleging it violated its nonprofit status, after reading the blockbuster revelations in The Guardian about Scott Walker and his flagrant coordination with the group.

MADISON - We’ve been in the news a lot this week!

The reason: After reading the blockbuster story in The Guardian about Scott Walker and his flagrant coordination with Wisconsin Club for Growth, we decided to file a formal IRS complaint against Wisconsin Club for Growth. We allege that it violated its nonprofit status in a couple ways, as you’ll see here:

WDC files complaint with IRS against Wisconsin Club for Growth

And speaking of that Guardian story, we summarized the essence of it here:

Walker’s laundry operation: Six takeaways from The Guardian story on Walker

One reason we’re looking to the IRS in Washington for some accountability is because there’s no accountability to be found here in Wisconsin, in part because of our corrupt Wisconsin Supreme Court. This week, we wrote about one of the justices who has been tainted by outside money:

Conflicted supreme court justice plans reelection

Lastly, our friends over at the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin are looking for volunteers to help them monitor the November 8 elections. Their election observers will be on guard for any signs of people being disenfranchised. If you’d like to sign up to be trained as an election observer, just click here:

Take 2 minutes to sign up online.

Thanks for your interest in all our work and that of our allies.