Browsing: Healthcare

There were 59,466 births in Wisconsin in 2023, the most recent year for which the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has released figures.

One year after the passage of a Badger Institute-backed law allowing dental therapy in Wisconsin, the first practitioners are now licensed, and aspiring students will soon be able to pursue a degree at one of the state’s technical colleges.

It is good for Wisconsin consumers to learn that they can sometimes pay cash and sometimes use insurance for medical expenses, and that the two approaches are complementary.

Direct primary care bills being considered in Madison provide a solution that could make Wisconsin healthcare cheaper and more accessible.

In Wisconsin, health care costs are too high, public health outcomes have plummeted, and our governor has hit the snooze button.

Adult-use legalization could increase the incidence of disorders associated with cannabis use, including psychosis and schizophrenia, cannabis use disorder, depression and hyperemesis, and numerous other conditions.

After a year-long disenrollment, there are still 163,221 more people on Medicaid in Wisconsin than there were before the start of the pandemic, at a cost to taxpayers of at least $50 million a year.

Healthcare spending continues to grow. Fortunately, a bill being considered in the Wisconsin Legislature, SB905, provides a solution that could make it both cheaper and more accessible via direct primary care. 

It’s common knowledge that Wisconsin has way too many poor kids with terrible dental care and not enough dentists to treat them.

It is imperative for disadvantaged children, veterans, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations that dental therapists be allowed to train and practice in Wisconsin.

Healthcare innovators are our best chance for better healthcare, as long as well-intended but stifling government regulations or laws, or an increasingly anti-competitive marketplace, don’t get in their way. The current reimbursement-driven system both creates roadblocks for innovators and simultaneously drives up costs. Direct pay removes these roadblocks.

A state Department of Health Services decision to take a year to remove ineligible people from Wisconsin’s Medicaid rolls — much slower than many other states — will cost federal and state taxpayers an estimated $745 million.

The 2023-25 state biennial budget signed by Gov. Tony Evers did not include the most effective measure to address gaps in oral care access in Wisconsin — dental therapy.

Healthcare remains the only sector of the economy where patients must pay for services without first knowing the cost. Patients aren’t empowered with the information needed to make smart financial decisions, taking into account both price and quality of care. “The Know Your Healthcare Costs Act” would work to change that.

As the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee begins budget deliberations, Gov. Tony Evers is pushing for a $31.6 billion budget for Medicaid over the next two years, a $4.2 billion biennial increase. The $27.4 billion being spent on Medicaid in the current two-year cycle already represents nearly 30% of all state spending.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has added the $500 million to his 2023-25 budget to address a “burgeoning crisis” in mental and behavioral health, particularly among Wisconsin children, created by the impact of the pandemic. In his State of the State address, he declared 2023 the Year of Mental Health.

Dental therapists are mid-level providers — similar to physician assistants or nurse practitioners — who perform preventive, restorative and intermediate restorative procedures such as fluoride applications, cavity repairs and extractions of diseased teeth. These licensed professionals work under the general supervision of dentists and often practice in locations with underserved populations.

The surest way to improve the healthcare that Wisconsinites receive is to enable people to get the greatest satisfaction at the most favorable price via a free and transparent market.

Eight states, including neighboring Minnesota and Michigan, have authorized dental therapist programs statewide. Dental therapists are mid-level providers who perform preventive, restorative and intermediate restorative procedures.

Healthcare What’s New Government Transparency Analysis: Children’s mental health and the curious case of crisis spendingBy Mark LisheronJanuary 26, 2023…