FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Chad Dunkley, New Horizon Academy; Former CMS administrator warns of ‘impending health care crisis’ if ACA subsidies aren’t extended

December 12, 2025

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Chad Dunkley, CEO of New Horizon Academy.

The Minnesota-based child care provider last month announced an expansion into Wisconsin, with a facility opening in October 2026 at Southwest Health, a not-for-profit community health provider in Platteville. The planned school will have capacity for 140 children, from infants to kindergarten age.

While the program will be a benefit for employees at Southwest Health, the child care program will also accept other kids in the community, according to Dunkley. Southwest Health is building the facility, he noted, adding that’s one of the biggest expenses for starting up a child care program.

“Because they absorb that expense, we’re able to charge lower tuition rates for employees of Southwest Health, but also to the community of Platteville,” he said.

He discusses the company’s efforts to expand into more areas with child care shortages, where it opened facilities in other states, as well as how the Platteville expansion came together.

The conversation also highlights the broader challenge of child care “deserts” across the country, and some of the trends driving this shortage.

“There’s been for decades now a shrinking of family child care, that’s really the primary source of child care, or had been, in smaller population areas,” Dunkley said. “And that’s really what started to create the shortage.”

He said center-based care models like what Southwest Health is doing can help create more options for families, even with the higher licensing requirements and labor costs that come along with them.

“Being a place where teachers can stay means that we have higher compensation and better benefits, so people can choose to work for New Horizon Academy and make it a career,” he said. “And so it’s very difficult to make the economic model work, to figure out what families can afford, but also what are the wages and benefits we can pay so we can have a really high-quality program.”

Dunkley explained 90% of brain development occurs before age 5, noting the early experiences that kids have during those years are “absolutely critical” to their growth.

Listen to the podcast and see the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts.

— A former CMS administrator warned of an “impending health care crisis” if ACA health insurance subsidies aren’t extended, noting premiums could rise by thousands of dollars for Wisconsin enrollees.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joined a call yesterday hosted by the progressive group Opportunity Wisconsin.

She blamed congressional Republicans and the Trump administration for expected price hikes if premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans expire at year’s end.

“It’s a crisis, I want to emphasize, [that] was not inevitable, but rather a choice that Republicans and President Trump have made for the American people,” she said, adding “after shutting down the government for 40 days, Republicans have also made it clear that they will end the ACA enhanced insurance tax credits for working people.”

Wisconsin lawmakers were divided over health care costs ahead of a vote yesterday on a Dem bill to extend enhanced ACA tax credits for three years before they expire at the end of the month.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, has repeatedly pushed for the renewal of the subsidies to prevent Americans from facing unaffordable health care costs. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, has criticized the ACA as a failure and argued against renewing the subsidies. See more in this week’s DC Wrap.

When 2026 premiums were unveiled in early November, Brooks-LaSure said it became clear that “it is actually a lot worse” than many predicted, with premiums increasing by 26% on average.

She noted these expected increases could impact the nearly 300,000 ACA plan enrollees in Wisconsin. For example, a 60-year-old couple in the state making about $86,000 would see their average premiums rise by $24,000, Brooks-LaSure said.

“This is just the premiums, this doesn’t include what you pay when you go to your doctor,” she said.

Her remarks came just after U.S. Senate Republicans yesterday rejected the proposal to extend ACA subsidies for three years.

“It does appear that in fact, these premium increases and reduced cost-sharing help that many feared would happen is going to be the reality for millions of people across this country,” she said.

— Hospitals and health systems in the state had a $2.2 billion community impact in 2024, including charity care, investments in social determinants of health, professional education and more.

That’s according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, which yesterday rolled out its 2025 Community Benefits Report.

WHA President and CEO Kyle O’Brien says hospitals are “stepping up where other systems fall short,” even as rising costs, labor shortages and “inadequate” reimbursement are putting a strain on these care providers.

“Whether it’s expanding behavioral health services, supporting substance-use recovery efforts or delivering occupational health programs, Wisconsin hospitals are filling gaps and strengthening communities,” he said in the report.

The total community benefits figures includes about $220 million in charity care at cost, more than $1.3 billion in Medicaid shortfalls, $36 million in losses on other public programs, $105 million in subsidized health services and $15 million in nursing home losses.

O’Brien notes a quarter of hospitals reported operating with negative margins in fiscal year 2024, as uncompensated care provided by hospitals increased by 30%.

“These financial challenges threaten not only health care access, but also the broader community benefits hospitals provide,” he said.

See the report and release.

Top headlines from the Health Care Report…

— State health officials have issued a recommendation that newborn infants should still be vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth, after a CDC committee recently voted to narrow its guidance on the vaccine.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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— Home sales in the greater Milwaukee area were down 9.2% over the year in November, the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors reports.

The group yesterday issued its report covering last month, which shows 1,220 homes were sold across Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties last month. That’s compared to 1,343 sales in November 2024, the report shows.

On a year-to-date basis, the four-county area has had 15,588 sales, marking a 0.6% increase from last year.

“For 2025 it is beginning to look like sales will be flat compared to 2024,” authors wrote. “If we take the average for December over the last three years, 2025 will end with 16,829 – 0.2% ahead of 2024.”

And while inventory levels have been “creeping up” this year, November’s decline of 6.3% cuts into that progress, GMAR says. Year-to-date, the increase from the same period of last year is 3.6%.

The group estimates this year will end with 3.3% more new listings compared to last year, “way below what the market is demanding.”

Meanwhile, prices continue to rise, with the average price rising 8.7% from November 2024 to reach $428,531 on average last month.

See the report.

— Democrats are seeking co-sponsorship on a package of bills they say will boost farmers amid insecurity brought on by tariffs.

The bills would increase the appropriation for programs promoting Wisconsin agricultural products, expand the scope of Farmland Preservation Program, and expand a program that increases the purchasing power of SNAP users at farmers markets.

Rep. Jenna Jacobson, D-Oregon, said at a news conference yesterday the bills are meant to strengthen farmers’ position in local and out-of-state markets and shield agricultural land from development pressures.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced a $12 billion aid package for farmers, who have been hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China in a broader trade war.

Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, leveled a few barbs at the aid package, saying farmers “would not need $12 billion if the Trump administration was doing right by them in the first place.”

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TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– Corn hybrid performance trials guide 2026 decisions

CONSTRUCTION

– 16-story Wilson Street apartments greenlighted

– Green Bay advances $5M contract for Leicht Memorial Park pavilion

EDUCATION

– UW-Parkside receives $1 million gift to support athletics and regenerative environmental research collaborative

HEALTH CARE

– As US Senate votes down ACA subsidy extension, Baldwin says premiums will skyrocket