Wisconsin’s largest business lobby group has concluded, after seeing the results of a statewide survey it commissioned, that Wisconsin residents are concerned about the cost of health care — but not about access to health care.

The organization might have jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, a Madison-based group, recently commissioned a telephone survey of 500 state residents.

A total of 54 percent of respondents said they opposed a universal health insurance proposal passed by the state Senate, while 37 percent favored it.

Sixty-four percent answered yes to the question of whether they supported “market-based health care reform.”

But here’s the “evidence” for the lack of concern about access to health insurance: Fifteen percent of respondents specifically mentioned high costs, while only 2 percent named “universal access” as a concern.

Given some recent headlines, it might be too early to convince ourselves that health insurance access is not an issue.

A recent Census Bureau report, based on 2006 data, has found that, while the nation’s poverty rate has decreased somewhat, the number of Americans without health insurance has risen — from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47 million in 2006.

That increase was primarily due to employers dropping health coverage. The percentage of Americans receiving health insurance through their jobs has dropped from 60.2 percent in 2005 to 59.7 percent in 2006. In addition, the number of children without health insurance increased from

8 million in 2005 to 8.7 million in 2006.

Wisconsin is ahead of most states in the percentage

of its citizens with health insurance. But, according to the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, even Wisconsin has gradually been losing ground. In 1979, the center said, nearly three-quarters of private-sector workers got insurance from their employers. In 2005, that number dropped to 58 percent.

The situation is worse for people with chronic conditions.

The American Cancer Society is so concerned about the number of uninsured American citizens that it is devoting its entire advertising budget next year on the issue of lack of insurance. One ad says, “This is what a health-care crisis looks like to the American Cancer Society. We’re making progress, but it’s not enough if people don’t have access to the care that could save their lives.”

Given these trends, it’s way too early to declare victory in the effort to improve access to insurance and health care.

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