In an effort to address the pressures that Wisconsin consumers and businesses experience due to increasing health care costs, Governor Scott McCallum's Small Employer Health Insurance Task Force recognized the need to convene major stakeholders to examine the issues related to Medicare reimbursement inequities in Wisconsin.

As a result, Governor McCallum, through the Office of Commissioner of Insurance, in conjunction with several sponsoring organizations, has scheduled the following Medicare Reimbursement Summit: Seeking Equity in Medicare Payments and Spending, on April 29, 2002, at the Quality Inn South, 4916 East Broadway, in Madison. Representatives from several of Wisconsin's largest health care organizations will define the problem and explain its impact on Wisconsin providers, taxpayers, insurers and consumers. In addition, Tom Still, Associate Editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, will moderate an experienced panel of experts including Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Hospital Association President Steve Brenton, Wisconsin Blue Cross & Blue Shield CEO Tom Hefty, and Dr. Susan Turney from the Wisconsin Medical Society, through a discussion of recent activity in Washington and Wisconsin's future involvement.

You may register for the summit by contacting Jim Guidry at OCI at (608) 264-6239 or you can email your registration to jim.guidry@oci.state.wi.us. The deadline for registering is April 22, 2002.

Invitation to Participants (pdf)

Press Releases:
    April 4, 2002, Governor Announces Summit on Medicare Funding
    April 25, 2002, State's Medicare Reimbursement Summit Adds Federal Voice

Summit Location (pdf)

Agenda (pdf)

If you wish, print off the flyer below and post it on a company bulletin board or pass it along to others who may be interested.

Flyer (pdf)

Medicare Reimbursement Summit Presentations

• Medicare Payment Inequities: Myths, Facts and Solutions (pdf)
  Presentation by: George Quinn, Wisconsin Health & Hospital Association
• Rural View: Impact of Medicare Shortfall? (pdf)
  Presentation by: Tim Size, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
• Medicare Physician Reimbursement Issues & the Impact of Cost Shifting on Commercial Insurance Premiums (pdf)
  Presentation by: John Smylie, Security Health Plan
• Medicare Reimbursement Ineqiuty (pdf)
  Presentation by: Susan L. Turney, M.D., M.S., FACP, Wisconsin Medical Society

A summary of the topics covered in the presentation portion of the Medicare Reimbursement Summit is included in the report below. A future final report will be produced and posted here when it is completed.

Medicare Reimbursement Summit:
Seeking Equity in Medicare Payments and Spending (pdf)

Medicare Reimbursement Summit Final Report

Report of the Wisconsin Medicare Reimbursement Summit
From the Office of Governor Scott McCallum
October 2002