Elect Ron Kind for Congress - Wisconsin Third Congressional District

The LaCrosse Tribune

- Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The health care crisis is deepening in Wisconsin, according to a report released Monday by Health Care for America Now.

The health care reform coalition report said health insurance premiums for employers and employees have risen to $13,599 per year for a family in Wisconsin, nearly double what it was in 2000.
The report said the cost crisis is so severe that as many as 13,000 bankruptcies in Wisconsin each year are related to medical bills. During the past two years, 1.2 million Wisconsin residents have been uninsured for part of the time.

The numbers, as striking as they are, don't get at the human toll underneath them, said Robert Kraig, program director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, a member of Health Care for American Now, a national grassroots campaign for quality, affordable health care.

Congressman Ron Kind echoed the sentiment as he called for a move to outcome-based payments among other reforms.

Without health care reform, we will continue to pay more and get less, the La Crosse Democrat said in a news release.

Kind said more than 2,300 people called in for a recent telephone meeting on health care reform, and more than 90 percent agreed that doctors should be paid based on the quality of care they provide.

Fortunately, in our area, health care providers are showing us by example how this can be done, he said.

At a news conference Monday in La Crosse, Kraig said the average family health insurance policy in Wisconsin will cost $24,812 in 2016 unless there is fundamental health care reform that reduces costs.

The mounting evidence in Wisconsin that health care hyperinflation is unsustainable makes it all important that Congress pass fundamental health care reform this year, Kraig said.

Since 2000, health care costs have grown four times faster than wages, Kraig said.

More families are finding themselves without health benefits just as the cost of buying coverage on the open market has climbed to record levels, according to the report.

Health insurance premiums have risen so high that experts are forecasting 52 million Americans will be without coverage next year.

The price of comprehensive health insurance has become out of reach for many employers and employees, Kraig said.

We have reached a critical point in the health care reform debate, he said. It is crucial that people in La Crosse be involved in this debate.

Let's talk

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind will host a panel discussion on health care reform next week in La Crosse.

The panel will include a hospital administrator, physician, small business owner and laborer and will focus on how health care reforms would affect businesses and families in Western Wisconsin.

What: Health Care Reform forum

When: 9:30 to 11 a.m. July 1

Where: La Crosse Public Library, 800 Main St.