Senator Carpenter Strongly Opposes Proposal to
Self-Insure State HealthCare
Madison – Today State Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) sent a letter to the Government Insurance Board, prior to their December 13, 2016 meeting to state his strong opposition to the proposal to change the state employee health insurance system to a self-insured model. Senator Carpenter voiced his concern that such a change would affect the private health insurance market in Wisconsin with possible negative consequences on consumers.
“A wholesale disruption of the system of healthcare for 200,000 Wisconsinites should be done through an open deliberative process of open hearings with opportunities for healthcare providers, healthcare consumers and their families to provide input, concerns, data, experience and expertise,” said Carpenter.
“I am concerned that the risks of a precipitous change could disrupt healthcare access for consumers. My constituents are concerned that such a change could be a prelude to a degradation of the quality or type of care available to them,” said Carpenter.
Senator Carpenter noted that this last legislative session there was an attempt to make wholesale changes to the FamilyCare and IRIS programs that provide care of many of my constituents. These changes were attempted to be made without identifying any troubles or inadequacies of the current system. “This attempt caused great anxiety in my constituents, who did not know how to plan for their future. I fear that this Board’s actions will similarly ignite legitimate concerns in 200,000 healthcare consumers in our state,” said Carpenter.
Senator Carpenter further noted that some of the hoped for cost savings would come from avoiding costs or burdens under the Affordable Care Act. “At a time when the incoming presidential administration and majority in Congress are actively discussing repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, the reliance on ACA savings seems both tenuous, unreliable, and unwise,” said Carpenter.
A copy of Sen. Carpenter’s letter accompanies this release.
