COMMENTARY Health Care Reform

Health Care Choices and Premiums: What’s Going on in Wisconsin

Jul 18, 2018 1 min read

Domestic Policy Studies

Over the first three years of Obamacare, per capita monthly premiums in Wisconsin increased by 80%, from $268 in 2013 to $481 in 2016.
Over the first five years of Obamacare, 27% fewer insurers offered Exchange coverage in Wisconsin, from 15 in 2013 to 11 in 2018.
2019 Rate Request Submission:InWisconsin,2019 proposed rate varied widely, from an requestedaverageincrease of 13.65% (Aspirus) to an requestedaveragedecrease of 19.01% (Molina). Of the insurers offering coverage on the Exchange: five are requesting rate increases (Aspirus, Children's Community Health Plan, Group Health Cooperative, MercyCare, and Security Health Plan); six are proposing to reduce their rates (Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative, Dean Health Plan, HealthPartners, Molina, Network Health Plan, and Unity Health Plans), and; one (Medica) is proposing a 1.39% increase for one of its plans and a 6.06% decrease for its other plan.
In addition, Anthem and WPS Health Plan are not on the Exchange but sell off-Exchange individual market coverage in Wisconsin. Anthem is requesting a 10.87% average rate increase, while WPS is asking for rate increases of 2.28% and 0.72% for two of its plans and proposing a 1.23% rate reduction for another plan.
2019 Rate Finalized: Finalized by mid-October

Health care remains a major focus of the public discussion as premium prices rise and choices dwindle. Throughout the summer and into the fall, Obamacare insurers will announce decisions about the prices they want to charge and plans they want to offer next year, submitting them to regulators for review and approval. Research shows prices have been rising steadily since Obamacare was first implemented, more than doubling in some places because of its failed policies and regulations.

The best way to provide relief for Americans struggling under these heavy burdens is to replace Obamacare with free-market solutions that put patients and doctors—not federal bureaucrats—in charge of health care decisions and dollars.

The three states that have begun to provide this kind of relief – after being granted federal waivers from Obamacare - are seeing rate reductions. Congress should go farther and make it easy for states to take these actions.