From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— The latest Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce survey finds 88% of respondents with employer-sponsored health plans expect their health care costs to rise this year.
Of those predicting higher health care costs, 14% expect costs to rise 1-5%; 61% expect them to rise 6-10%; 20% expect an increase of 11-20%; 4% expect an increase of 21-30%; and 1% expect an increase of 30% or more.
WMC found health care costs are tied for the top public policy issue facing Wisconsin businesses, according to respondents, along with the labor shortage or a lack of qualified job applicants.
And when asked what the state government could do to help their business, 41% of respondents pointed to making health care more affordable.
Scott Manley, executive vice president of government relations for WMC, says the state’s business community has serious concerns about “extreme” health care costs.
“These costs are not only a competitive disadvantage, as they dip into employee compensation, investment opportunities, and more, but they also hurt Wisconsin families,” he said in the survey report.
WMC’s winter survey, conducted by email and traditional mail in December, included 153 executives at companies of all sizes from across the state.
See the report and find the release below.
— An endowment of the Medical College of Wisconsin today announced $3.9 million in funding for 66 projects happening this year.
The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment is funding these projects with grants of up to $50,000 each, according to today’s release. Each was selected through a competitive application process after getting the approval of the endowment’s oversight bodies, including the MCW Board of Trustees.
Funding is going toward 21 community-led projects, 32 projects led by college faculty and 13 projects headed up by post-doctoral researchers at MCW under the supervision of faculty.
The community-led projects getting AHW Seed Grants include MCW faculty collaboration, and span 35 counties in Wisconsin. Eight of them are statewide, the release shows. Projects range from expanding mental health services and healthy food access to suicide prevention, refugee and immigrant integration efforts, maternal and child health and more.
“This latest round of Seed Grant funding further demonstrates the successful formula we’ve used throughout our 20-year history to propel the best ideas for maximizing the health of our friends and neighbors throughout the state and beyond,” said Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, the endowment’s director.
Meanwhile, MCW-based projects backed by the grant funding are focused on cancer, the diagnosis and treatment of opioid addiction, injuries to the brain and spinal cord, liver disease, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy.
See details on funded projects here and see more in the release below.
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Press Releases
– Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment: Awards $3.9 million for 66 health improvement projects
