Three months ago, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Wisconsin’s state government healthcare programs such as Badgercare Plus would be facing a potential $1 billion in cuts over the next 18 months.

Last week, the State Senate passed the BadgerCare Plus Basic Plan claiming to provide an insurance program to an additional 25,000 Wisconsin residents.  This bill creates a government-run, mandate-free health plan that does not even meet the minimum standards established by the State Office of the Commissioner of Insurance for private sector insurance companies. 

Which leads me to ask the question – should our state government expand a program when we repeatedly fail to fulfill its current obligations to existing healthcare programs?

A prime example is our current dental care crisis for Medicare recipients.  The Pew Center on the States reported last month that the state of Wisconsin reimburses dentist for Medicaid at a level that falls short of the national average, and it ranks among the worst states in Medicaid utilization.  Only about 26 percent of Medicaid-enrolled children received any dental service in 2007.  

Meanwhile, the Department of Health Services is still in the process of trying to find an estimated $608 million over two years in cost savings.  Here are just three of the 66 measures being taken to cut costs: 

·       Increase the price of generic drugs.

·       Delay payments until just after the new state budget begins in mid-2011 (essentially an accounting trick).  

·       Cut reimbursements to pharmacists, nursing homes and rural hospitals.

Clearly, people are already suffering and will continue to suffer because of the government’s lack of funding for its health care programs.  Yet, the State Senate just passed a bill that will simply add further costs to our existing healthcare programs.  

While proponents of BadgerCare Plus Basic Plan indicate that there is no cost to the taxpayer, it is most likely that this program will exceed its current funding reserve of $1 million dollars.  What this means is that an individual with cancer or a severe heart condition will likely consume this small reserve that the state allocated for the plan.  If the state exceeds the $1 million in reserves, either the taxpayer will be picking up the tab or the healthcare services will but cut. 

There’s a reason this bill faced severe bi-partisan opposition on the Senate floor.  It over-promises and under delivers.  In fact, private sector plans provide the same benefits for a lower cost.   Should legislators in Madison be pretending to offer a viable health care program when it does not even meet the minimum standards established by the State itself for private plans?

I voted against this bill because I do not believe that legislators should be misleading their constituents into believing that they are receiving a viable health insurance plan when it is neither sufficient nor sustainable.   Let’s address our existing funding shortfall before trying to cover more people.  It is simply not acceptable for government to offer a new health care program to individuals when they are already trying to figure out how they will commit to the health care promises they’ve already made.