From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Dem guv hopeful Joel Brennan is calling for allowing small businesses and individuals to buy into the state employee health plan.
It’s part of a health care plan he said would strengthen access, lower costs, grow the health care workforce and treat mental health as essential care.
“Wisconsin has one of the strongest health care systems in the country — our hospitals, physicians, and nurses are nationally respected,” said Brennan, who served as Administration secretary under Dem Gov. Tony Evers. “But the system is under strain, and families feel it every time they can’t pay a bill or find a doctor close to home.”
The plan includes guaranteeing coverage for children up to 300% of the federal poverty level, even if their parents don’t qualify. Under current Medicaid eligibility requirements, pregnant women and children qualify for coverage if their household income is up to 306% of the federal poverty level, which is $100,980 for a family of four.
There are other non-financial requirements such as cooperating with verification requests and not having access to a parent or caretaker’s employer-sponsored insurance.
Under Brennan’s plan, kids would still have access to Medicaid coverage if their parents lose it for administrative reasons or their family income fluctuates.
He is one of several Dem guv candidates who have called for a public option that would provide coverage for the public and employers. His would include sliding-scale premium assistance for low-income residents who don’t qualify for Medicaid.
Brennan’s campaign didn’t provide a dollar figure for how much his proposal would cost. Instead, it outlined steps to pay for it such as maximizing federal funding, investing state budget surpluses in workforce development and ensuring access, and improving efficiency.
Some of the provisions include:
- Calling for a “crack down” on pharmacy benefit managers, including requiring rebates go back to patients. The positions were created to manage prescription drug plan benefits for insurers and/or employers.
- Growing the health care workforce through measures such as expanding technical college health programs and adding new faculty positions to medical, pharmacy and nursing schools.
- Expanding access to mental health care, including screening and treatment in primary care.
— Concordia University says a planned expansion of its nursing education facilities will help better prepare graduates to meet local workforce demands.
The university yesterday announced it will hold a groundbreaking April 22 for a new nursing wing at its Mequon campus, adding 26,000 square feet of new construction and renovating another 12,000 square feet of space.
It will include advanced hospital simulation suites and virtual reality technology to get students ready for clinical practice. These features can simulate the experience of stabilizing a patient with heart trouble or assisting in delivering a baby, as well as other elements of the job such as deescalating conflict.
Students in the program experience hundreds of simulated clinical scenarios before they get the chance to work directly with patients, the announcement notes.
Construction on the new nursing wing is slated to run through summer 2027 before the new space opens for the fall semester that year.
See the release below and find more project details.
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