Earlier this week, I was invited to be the kickoff speaker at the 2013 Day on the Hill for the Wisconsin Association of Health Underwriters.  More than 150 professional health insurance agents and brokers attended the annual conference, where they had the opportunity to meet with their legislators and hear from industry leaders. Throughout the morning, we discussed three main issues:

• Effects of the Affordable Care Act : A critical issue facing Wisconsin policymakers is the role of “navigators” – those who will be hired to assist consumers in navigating through the plans offered through the federal health insurance exchange. Currently, the state insurance officials are working on legislation to provide guidance to future navigators in Wisconsin.

• Lowering health care costs and improving quality of care in Wisconsin : Healthcare costs have skyrocketed in recent decades and cause ever increasing pressure on household budgets and our states employers. During my discussions with WAHU, we emphasized free market principles, consumer choice, and transparency as 3 main goals to help bring down the cost of healthcare.

• Address health care costs for small business : The high cost of employee health care is a tremendous burden for our small businesses to bear. We discussed the importance of Health Savings Accounts and other self-funded health insurance plans.

As a member of both the Assembly Insurance Committee and Aging & Long Term Care Committee, I will be continuing to work to make Wisconsin’s health care marketplace as competitive and affordable as possible.

 

The Joint Finance Committee has announced four public hearings to receive testimony on the state budget bill, AB 40. Here are the dates and times:

Thursday, April 4th
10:00am – 6:00pm
Greendale High School
Auditorium
6801 Southway
Greendale, WI 53129

Monday, April 8th
10:00am – 5:00pm
Lambeau Field
Legends Club Room – 4th Level
1265 Lombardi Avenue
Green Bay, WI 54304

Wednesday, April 10th
10:00am – 5:00pm
Crystal Grand Music Theatre
430 W. Munroe Avenue (Hwy. 23)
Lake Delton, WI 53940

Thursday, April 18th
10:00am – 5:00pm
Baldwin-Woodville High School
Auditorium
1000 13th Avenue
Baldwin, WI 54002


The Committee will hear public testimony on the budget proposal during the hours listed. If you are unable to attend the hearings, written comments can be emailed to the Committee at BudgetComments@legis.wisconsin.gov, or sent via U.S. Mail to: Joe Malkasian, Room 305 East, State Capitol, Madison, WI53072.
 

Already this session, the Legislature has been working to identify ways that government can be more efficient, what we call our “Right the Rules” campaign.  Each legislative committee has been reviewing the Wisconsin Administrative Code, the rules that all Wisconsin citizens encounter every day. While commonsense guidelines can be useful, there are also many outdated and heavy-handed regulations on the books that hamstring our industries and create uncertainty for our small businesses. The goal of Right the Rules is to identify and remove these onerous requirements.  If you have suggestions or areas of the rule code to bring to the committee’s attention, please submit your comments to Right the Rules or my contact information below.

Here is the most recent update:

• Right the Rules has received over 125 contacts from Wisconsin citizens.

• The website has received over 13,000 views.

• To date, there have been 11 committees that have held meetings on the rules, and 3 that have scheduled meetings in the upcoming weeks, 2 of the scheduled meetings are committees holding their second meeting One committee had its first Informational Hearing on chapters they needed further clarification on.

• These committees have reviewed 66 chapters, with another 19 scheduled to be looked at in the upcoming weeks.

• Currently several chapters have been identified to have further discussions based on concerns that were raised in the committee meetings.

• Of the 66 chapters reviewed, 7 have been okayed and 4 have been identified for modification or elimination.

 

The Wisconsin State Legislature has announced the re-launch of its Notification System.  This system allows residents anywhere in the state to track proposals of interest during the committee process and floor debate.

For the time being, the service is limited to following proposals. In the coming weeks you will be able to receive notifications on authors, committees, keywords, and other features.

You will be required to create a log-in account to use the new system.

Please direct your questions, suggestions, or comments to Notify.Support@legis.wisconsin.gov.