Subscribers: This is the last Healthcare Report of the week due to the Independence Day holiday. Delivery will resume Monday. Thank you for subscribing!
From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Wisconsin’s enrollment in Affordable Care Act health insurance plans dropped by nearly 46,000 early this year as enhanced subsidies for the program expired.
As of February, the state had 245,753 enrollees with active ACA plans who had paid their first month’s premium, according to figures from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
That’s a decline of about 16% from the 291,336 enrollment total reported by CMS in January, covering the open enrollment period for this year.
Wisconsin’s decrease matches the decline at the national level, as ACA plan enrollees also dropped about 16% from nearly 23 million at the end of open enrollment to 19.2 million in February, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In a statement on the decline, Joe Zepecki of Protect Our Care Wisconsin said “this didn’t happen by accident,” laying the blame on Republicans in Congress for voting for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He singled out GOP guv candidate U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents the state’s 7th CD.
Zepecki argues voting for the federal bill was a policy choice to “make health insurance more expensive” for more state residents.
“One year after HR1 was enacted into law the health care system is approaching a full-blown crisis,” he said. “It costs too much. It’s leading to even less access. And Wisconsin families are paying the price.”
Neither Tiffany’s office nor his campaign immediately responded to a request for comment.
— The GOP co-chairs of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee want DHS to answer questions about an IRIS management firm that’s been accused of fraud in New York.
In a letter to Health Services Secretary Kirsten Johnson, the lawmakers said they have questions about the agency and its oversight of Public Partnerships LLC given the civil lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the company and New York alleging fraud. Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Gillet, and Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia, noted the company has also been accused of missed paychecks, irresponsible support and service gaps for those enrolled in New York’s program.
They asked Johnson to respond by July 8.
The Evers administration selected the company to help those enrolled in the IRIS program with hiring paperwork, processing payroll and other tasks. Public Partnerships had been set to begin the work no earlier than 2027, though the transition has been paused while DHS reviews formal protests filed with the state over the firm’s selection.
DHS didn’t immediately respond to questions about the letter late yesterday.
Funded through federal and state money, IRIS allows more than 29,000 Wisconsinites with disabilities to remain in their homes rather than assisted care facilities. The program was budgeted for $1.5 billion between state and federal money in 2026-27.
In the letter, the lawmakers sought assurances the process to select Public Partnerships was “fair, transparent and well-documented.” They also asked if DHS has completed its review of the protests filed over the company’s selection for the contract. The lawmakers also want a series of documents, including scoring sheets for each proposal submitted seeking the contract.
— New research out of UW-Madison suggests direct carbon dioxide emissions reduction is a more effective strategy than CO2 removal for reducing pollution and related health impacts.
The study, published recently in the journal Nature Climate Change, was led by postdoctoral fellow Candelara Bergero and involved Prof. Morgan Edwards of the university’s La Follette School of Public Affairs.
It focused on strategies for reaching net-zero emissions by the middle of the century, noting those that rely heavily on removing CO2 from the environment are linked to more severe pollution, lower air quality and higher rates of climate-related premature deaths, compared to those that prioritize reducing direct emissions.
The study found decreased reliance on CO2 removal would result in about 33,000 fewer premature deaths per year in 2050, relative to the approach that relies more on CO2 removal.
And while CO2 removal approaches such as direct air carbon capture and storage and similar processes that use biomass have become more popular in recent years, the path that relies less heavily on such approaches was found to produce “much larger health benefits” due to reducing emissions at their source.
Under the “business-as-usual” framework, the study projected about 203,000 annual air quality-related deaths. That fell to 159,000 for the CO2 removal-reliant approach, but was even lower at 127,000 for the low-CO2 removal strategy.
“As countries transition to net-zero emissions, it is important to understand that there are multiple pathways for achieving this goal, and each will have different implications for people,” Bergero said in a statement.
See the release below.
Top Stories
– A Mom Said Infant Formula Killed Her Baby. The Manufacturer Closed the File.
– Researchers launch study on Ebola treatments as Congo outbreak worsens
– Judge blocks Colorado’s first-of-its-kind price cap on Amgen’s Enbrel
– New Disease Threats Follow Trump Administration’s Health Program Cuts
– Regular Users Can Tolerate Previously ‘Unsurvivable’ Amounts of Fentanyl
– Parasitic illness cases are spiking: The symptoms to watch for, including ‘explosive’ diarrhea
Press Releases
– ThedaCare: Welcomes first graduate medical education residents
