Madison, WI – Today, the Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs held a public hearing on several bills that would address the high cost of healthcare in Wisconsin. Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) testified on several bills that she authored, including the Price Transparency for Patients Act, andbills to require insurer participation in Wisconsin’s all-payer claims database, the Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO).
The Price Transparency for Patients Act adopts federal hospital price transparency standards into state law and gives Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services the ability to monitor hospitals’ compliance and enforce these standards. If a hospital is out of compliance, they can work on a corrective action plan with DHS before they incur any financial penalties. Under the bill, a hospital is unable to pursue debt collection until they come back into compliance. According to the nonpartisan PatientRightsAdvocate.org, only 30% of Wisconsin hospitals are currently fully in compliance.
Senate Bills 796 and 797 require insurer participation in the WHIO and provide funding to support associated costs. WHIO allows users to see exactly what they and other payers are paying for various healthcare services, increasing transparency and lowering costs.
Healthcare costs, especially in Wisconsin, are expensive and only increasing. Wisconsin has the 5th highest hospital costs in the country and the highest in the Midwest. From 2000 to 2024, medical care prices have outpaced inflation, growing 121.3%. In the recent state budget, the GPR Medicaid cost-to-continue was over $1.4 billion, and recent estimates are that this will be over $200 million more than what was passed in the budget.
Senator Felzkowski issued the following statement:
“High healthcare costs burden families and are a silent tax on businesses. Wisconsin cannot wait on Washington to act. The bills heard in committee this morning are common sense: what else, besides healthcare, do you buy without knowing what it costs? Strengthening Wisconsin’s healthcare data infrastructure and increasing transparency are easy steps towards tackling our state’s high cost of healthcare.”
