A labor member of the worker’s comp council warned lawmakers against changing the council’s proposed legislation, saying doing so would destroy a process that’s more than a century old.
But a representative from the Wisconsin Medical Society complained providers weren’t included in the decision-making process.
Mark Grapentine, a lobbyist for WMS, told a Tuesday public hearing of the Legislature’s labor committees that nothing so “radical” had ever been proposed by the Worker’s Compensation Advisory Council. Grapentine said those pushing the bill assumed lawmakers would rubber stamp it like “potted plants” and noted the room packed with lobbyists representing various constituencies that would be touched by the proposal.
“There is a lot more at stake this time around, and I think there is an overreach in the proposal,” he said.
The bill, AB 711, was created by the council, comprised of representatives from labor and management. Traditionally, the Legislature has shown deference to the proposals coming out of the body, and Stephanie Bloomingdale of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO and a labor appointee to the board urged lawmakers to respect the deal that was unanimously approved by the two sides during a lengthy process.
“The solutions in this agreed upon bill do not render themselves to picking and choosing,” she said.
The proposed fee schedule is perhaps the most controversial provision in the package and has divided the insurance industry against providers.
It would cap fees for procedures at the average rate paid by group health plans plus 10 percent.
Members of the council who testified before the committee today argued Wisconsin’s costs per procedure are among the highest in the country and implementing a fee schedule would save anywhere from $100 million to $200 million a year off what businesses pay for claims through their insurance.
Providers countered the state provides higher quality care than others, gets injured workers back on the job quicker and has a lower overall cost per claim than the average state.
Lawmakers picked over the bill with a series of questions that hinted at the arguments they’ve heard from providers and the insurance industry.
Rep. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, said he was no fan of the government setting price controls. But he also wants his worker’s comp insurance rates to go down to free up money so he can hire more people at his company, Integrated Time Systems. That company offers services ranging from software to track labor and payroll submissions to hardware such as time clocks.
“I’m frustrated because I haven’t seen a better option out there than going after the rates,” he said.
