Date: October 12, 2000
For more information contact: Eileen Mallow (608) 266-7843 or eileen.mallow@wisconsin.gov
Governor Launches Task Force to Study
Insurance Availability for Small Business
Madison, WI--Governor Tommy G. Thompson announced today creation of a task force to address pressures on Wisconsin's small business insurance market. Insurance Commissioner Connie L. O'Connell will chair the task force.
"Small employers are especially hard hit when health insurance costs increase," Governor Thompson said. "For many, the choice is between eliminating insurance benefits and cutting into an already narrow profit margin."
According to a survey of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), nearly a quarter of Wisconsin's small business owners saw their health insurance premiums rise more than twenty percent in 1998. The situation has become even more difficult in 1999 and this year. Small employers are faced with fewer options for insurance and the options available are increasingly more expensive.
Last year the Governor and the Legislature authorized creation of a private employer health insurance pool, scheduled to begin in January. The pool will assist smaller employers by combining their purchasing power in order to obtain better rates from insurers and health care providers. The task force is charged with going beyond the small employer pool to look at ways to encourage a healthy, competitive private market.
"I want this task force to develop ideas to attack the problem quickly," Governor Thompson said. "Access to affordable insurance is crucial for both the health of our economy and the health of the hard-working individuals who power it."
Governor Thompson charged the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) to appoint the task force members who will analyze the situation and develop recommendations to address the problem. Members of the task force will include small employers, providers and representatives of the insurance industry.
"In considering the rising cost of health insurance, an important part of this discussion is the significant losses insurers in the small employer market have experienced," Commissioner O'Connell said.
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