Browsing: Healthcare

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…

Wisconsin could help lead the nation in empowering patient-consumers to seek care in a functioning market with upfront transparent pricing.

Sem, Niederjohn of Concordia University Wisconsin will conduct health care research

Of all the wasteful impulses many politicians have, one of the worst is giving big tax breaks to dying industries.

Michael Jahr joined a panel of experts to discuss how expanding the dental therapy profession in Wisconsin would bridge the access gap for many individuals through use of free market principles.

At the height of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, correctional and other public safety agencies in Wisconsin bought at least 55 disinfection robots at a cost of more than $2.2 million.

Research indicates a correlation between proper dental hygiene, including regular dental visits, and a lower risk of serious COVID infection and complications, according to a recent study out of Cairo University.

Local governments, awash in federal cash, still trying to spend down millions from the CARES Act 

Dental therapists could help address oral care shortage
By Anne Trautner
June 23, 2021

The Albrecht Free Clinic in West Bend gets calls daily from Medicaid patients in need of dental care.

Downplayed by the media, two very different COVID-19 outcomes for the old and young