Legislators’ Access to Health Care Makes GOP Opposition to ‘Healthy Wisconsin’ Hypocritical
State Electeds Can Cover Their Entire Families for Around Two Dollars a Day
Madison – State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton), chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said the health care benefits Republican legislators receive from the state makes opposition to the Senate Democrats’ “Healthy Wisconsin” plan to provide everyone with access to the same care as “monumentally hypocritical.”
“You deserve the same health care you pay for those of us in the state legislature to have,” said Erpenbach, architect of the “Healthy Wisconsin” plan. “If Republican legislators are going to say their care is too good for you, then you have the right to know what they are paying for health care.”
At a Tuesday morning event in the state capitol, Erpenbach showed a chart which documented the amount legislators pay on a monthly basis under the taxpayer-financed health care coverage. Under the state plan, legislators are able to receive full coverage for their families for as little as $67 a month.
“We have state legislators who pay two bucks a day for their entire families to get health care, but fighting against getting their constituents the same benefits,” said Erpenbach. “Republican legislators continue to stand up for drug and insurance companies, while telling taxpayers to sit down and shut up.”
According to the figures obtained by Erpenbach, state legislators have the choice of three different tiered plans. The monthly legislative contribution for each tier is as follows: Tier 1: $27 single, $68 family; Tier 2: $60 single, $150 family; and Tier 3: $143 single, $358 family. Every county in Wisconsin includes access to a low-cost, high quality Tier 1 plan, allowing legislators access to this level of care.
“’Healthy Wisconsin is not about reducing coverage for anyone,” said Erpenbach. “’Healthy Wisconsin’ is about getting people the health care they need and where everyone pays their fair share.”
Under the Senate Democrats’ “Healthy Wisconsin” plan the amount employers and employees pay for health care would fall from over $17 billion to $15.2 billion a year. In addition, consumers would have their choice of provider and their choice of doctor. The plan has received bipartisan praise including from Joe Leean, former Governor Tommy Thompson’s Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Services.
