Contact: Cullen Werwie, 608-267-7303
Madison–Yesterday Governor Walker signed an executive order that created the Office of Free Market Health Care. This new office will be directed by the Department of Health Services and the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and will:
* Encourage transparency in all efforts of the Office so that Wisconsin residents and employers may make appropriate health care decisions; and
* Assess the impact of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on Wisconsin insurance markets and programs; and
* Seek council from a wide range of health care stakeholders including but not limited to consumers, small businesses, providers, insurers, labor unions, and other vested organizations; and
* Conditionally develop a plan for the design and implementation of a Wisconsin health benefit exchange that utilizes a free-market, consumer driven approach; and
* Explore all opportunities and alternative approaches that would free Wisconsin from establishing a health benefit exchange, including federal waivers.
The executive order signed yesterday requires that all state departments and offices collaborate and support any and all of these efforts.
