Universal Healthcare
The Problem
In 2003, total health care costs in Wisconsin were about $28 billion: an average of about $5,150 per year for every person in Wisconsin. The 2008 total could reach $43 billion.
An estimated of 495,000 residents of Wisconsin (9%) were uninsured during part or all of 2003.1 This number includes 22% of poor residents, and 18% of near-poor residents.
Among the insured, 75% of working people age 18-64 get insurance through their employers. Only 24% of those privately insured have all of the preventive care benefits.
Based on national statistics, every week, 4 people in Wisconsin die because they lack health insurance.2
In Wisconsin last year, there were13,454 bankruptcies (37,360 people) caused by medical bills. That’s almost 37 medical bankruptcies each day!
Health-care benefits are becoming less accessible and harder to afford. One-quarter of small businesses (with fewer than 250 employees) that now offer health insurance have thought about dropping coverage.3
1 2003 Wisconsin Health Insurance Coverage Report (Wis. Dept. of Health and Family Services).
2 Institute of Medicine, 2002.
3 2003 Small Business Poll, by the National Federation of Independent Business.