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That is one of the findings of a recent University of Wisconsin Badger Poll. Among the results:
nSeventy-six percent favored expanding state government programs such as BadgerCare or Medicaid to provide coverage for the uninsured.
With this kind of public sentiment — and Wisconsin is not unusual — we should expect the next president, whoever it is, to make health care changes a major point.
But which approach will we see? Democrats have advocated for universal coverage programs. The one most often suggested is based on a model called “managed competition,” in which a board appointed by government develops standards for health insurance policies and then relies on the private insurance industry to offer a variety of plans in each region of the state or country.
That was the basis for the “Healthy Wisconsin” plan favored by Senate Democrats in the last session. And it is the model for plans advocated by Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The major difference between the two is that Clinton would require that everyone have coverage, and Obama would not. Many experts regard Clinton’s plan as better because of that difference.
Republicans tend to favor high-deductible insurance policies (in the range of $2,000 or $3,000 deductible that must be paid before any coverage is offered). But they would allow health savings accounts, which would allow consumers to get tax breaks while they save for their medical expenses. Employers also could contribute to their employees’ HSAs.
Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch believes that the power of the marketplace and the impact of the high deductible plans will keep costs down.
Whatever the solution, the United States is alone among other industrialized democracies in relying on private insurers and employer-based plans, rather than plans with more government involvement. How long will businesses be able to compete on a global market when health care costs make up a big part of the cost of their products?
It’s an exciting time to be watching how political leaders deal with the medical issues. But it is complicated, and
we can’t follow the debate by listening only to the sound bytes.
Consumers need to be reading about the issues, checking online and other sources. Don’t let candidate sound bytes or special interest groups decide the issue for us.
