Health care is not a problem that has a quick and reasonable fix. There is simply no magic bullet that will address every real and perceived failing of the system. Anyone who has ever tried to make perfect sense of their insurance policy or go through a hospital bill line-by-line knows that there’s more to the problem than meets the eye.

This complex system leads to some real anxiety for many Americans. There are the parents of a newborn child who want Cadillac care but only have the means of a new family’s budget. There’s the worker who loses their job, or the hourly wage-earner whose employer doesn’t provide coverage, who worry every day about what they’ll do in the case of an accident or a disease.
Unfortunately, the trend seems to be more and more politicians aiming for a quick fix by saying that “government knows best.” Last summer, the leadership of the Democrat-controlled state Senate proposed a government-run health care proposal called “Healthy Wisconsin,” which would turn over the health care system in our state to an unelected (and unaccountable) committee of bureaucrats in Madison, paid for with a brand-new, record-setting $15 billion tax hikes on businesses and their employees.

That program, which seemed like the only health care proposal the Senate bothered with this year, garnered no bipartisan support in either house and was put on the shelf until the debate is presumably renewed next year.

There’s no argument; the government does have a role and a critical responsibility to improve the cost and quality of health care. Unbeknownst to many in Wisconsin, our state actually did pass a number of significant, if under-publicized reforms in the past few years that address the real problems plaguing the health care system.

Our bipartisan budget included a state tax deduction for those who pay a portion of their health care premium, which will keep more than $150 million per year in the pockets of Wisconsin families, and a new BadgerCare Plus program to provide at least

98 percent of Wisconsin citizens with access to affordable health care.

I, along with a majority of my colleagues in the state Assembly, also voted for a common-sense incentive to improve the overall health of our state with Workplace Wellness tax credits to encourage employers in the state to do their part in fighting obesity and chronic diseases.

A bipartisan majority in the Assembly also voted again, for the third time in three sessions, to make Health Savings Accounts tax-deductible. Wisconsin remains one of only a handful of states to still tax HSAs, even though they are already in place and saving money at a number of small businesses and local governments, including Manitowoc County.

HSAs are a way to allow a family to be more involved in those choices, and more informed about the real cost of health care.

Republicans and Democrats joined together to pass these measures for a very simple reason: There is a better solution than government-run health care. By using the market to improve quality and lower costs and by tackling the real underlying problems leading to high health care costs, we can make a real difference in the cost and quality of health care.

Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, is speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Advertisement