March 10, 2008

Healthy Wisconsin: A Dog That Just Won't Hunt

By George Lightbourn

Following through on a promise, the Senate Democrats last week reintroduced their health care plan dubbed Healthy Wisconsin.  The plan extends coverage to everyone in Wisconsin, as well as anyone who is thinking of relocating to Wisconsin, and passes the cost along to taxpayers through an impressive, upward spiraling payroll tax.

We are told that if we were fortunate enough to see Healthy Wisconsin enacted, we would have it just as good in Wisconsin as they have in several other nations.  One of the countries often cited is New Zealand.  You see in New Zealand everyone is covered for a fraction of what health care costs in the U.S.

I happened to visit New Zealand recently and I have to report that it is not the medical nirvana that some would have us believe.  This wonderful little country has a population of just over four million people, making it somewhat smaller than Wisconsin. 

I found out that they do indeed provide health care coverage for everyone, even the foreign visitor who had an ear infection flare up while visiting one of the country’s college towns.  I was referred to Dr. McKenzie, a warm man who successfully treated my problem. 

While my infection cleared up after Dr. McKenzie prescribed an antibiotic, I have to say that I found this small window into the New Zealand health care system to be both quaint and disquieting.  Dr. McKenzie is a neighborhood general practitioner much like the doctor who cared for my family when I was growing up fifty years ago.  His examining room, which doubled as his office, was cluttered with shiny metal instruments and stacks of medical journals.  It looked nothing like the sleekly sterile environment of the modern day HMO.

I paid the $49 co-pay for the office visit – the taxpayers of New Zealand were kind enough to pick up the rest – and went on my way.  I left the doctor’s office appreciative that the doctor was able to solve my minor problem, and equally appreciative that I had no more serious affliction. 

Coincidentally, during my stay in New Zealand, health care was a huge issue in the national press.  The New Zealand Star Times reported of a growing national health care crisis.  The $11 billion spent on health care is funneled through local health boards, not unlike the board that would run Healthy Wisconsin.  It seems that one of the boards was recently shut down and others are under a microscope. 

As the Star Times reported, “Many DHBs (District Health Boards) are struggling to recruit specialists and, because of staff shortages, are being forced to use doctors who are inexperienced or are being inadequately supervised.”

Adding to the concern that keeps New Zealanders awake nights is a recent report from the Quality Improvement Committee showing that last year, 182 patients died or became seriously injured because of hospital mistakes.  This is in a country with 1.5 million fewer people than Wisconsin.  Can you imagine the outcry if this report had been issued in Wisconsin?

I do not think that the message is that New Zealand should fix its problems by moving to the U.S. model.  They have problem within their system that need to be addressed and they will address them.

Of course the converse is equally true; there is no reason for Wisconsin to move away from our market-driven health care model and move to a system run stem to stern by government. 

There is no denying the flaws and inefficiencies within our system that are costing money.  These need to be addressed to be sure, but they should be addressed in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the quality of Wisconsin’s fine health care.  Instead of traveling the country on the Healthy Wisconsin medicine show, the Senate Democrats would be well advised to stick to their knitting and do the hard work of addressing the inefficiencies within our current system.