Battleground Wisconsin

After repeated, bold, and blustery promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act on day one, Congressional Republican’s moved tepidly this week to start the process of yanking funding for health coverage with no plan or timeline for replacement. After digging into the impossible predicament Republicans have made for themselves on health care, we welcome State Representative Eric Genrich (D - Green Bay) to discuss what to expect from the GOP in in the new legislative session, and how progressive Democrats can counter them with an alternative vision for the state. We also discuss Walker’s DNR cleansing of climate change from its website, the lack of a candidate to run against Justice Annette Zeigler for her State Supreme Court seat, and the deal pro-voucher DPI Candidate John Humphries cut with the Dodgeville School District to be paid $650/day while he runs full-time for State Superintendent.

To discuss Charlie Sykes’ last radio show this week, and his racist legacy of dividing and conquering for the benefit of right-wing politicians, we welcome special guest Mike Browne, the Deputy Director for One Wisconsin Now. We celebrate the successful launch of Citizen Action Organizing Cooperative’s Radio-Active Campaign with it’s new lead organizer, Terri Williams. We also discuss Gov. Walker’s support for a Constitutional Convention to amend the U.S. Constitution; threats by right-wing Legislators to cut UW-Madison funding in retaliation for professor's course on race and white privilege; small steps by WEDC to address Citizen Action's concerns about outsourcing; and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke's response to Congresswoman Gwen Moore's call for a federal investigation into 4 deaths at the jail he runs.

2017 Wisconsin Health Insurance Cost Ranking

Report finds continuing regional disparities on cost, inflation, and quality

Rate of health care inflation was more than 7x higher before Affordable Care Act

Statewide: Citizen Action of Wisconsin released its 11th Annual Wisconsin Health Insurance Cost Ranking report Wednesday morning on a statewide media call. A full audio recording of the media call can be downloaded here.

The full report includes 11 charts ranking the cities and regions of Wisconsin on health insurance costs, rate of inflation, and quality, and can be downloaded here.

This year’s report finds wide disparities between higher and lower cost regions of Wisconsin, as well as large differences in the rate of health insurance inflation, causing some Wisconsinites to pay thousands of dollars more than others in less expensive regions of the state.

New in this year’s report is an analysis of the rate of health insurance hyperinflation in each Wisconsin city before and after the Affordable Care (ACA) was fully implemented. The report finds that the rate of health insurance hyperinflation was over 7x higher in the 13 years before the implementation of ACA than it has been in the 4 years since (15% per year statewide before vs 2% per year after). In some Wisconsin cities, the decline in the rate of inflation is even more dramatic. These results call into question the claim that the health care law caused health insurance rates for most health consumers to dramatically increase, and the contention that repealing the ACA will lower the cost of health coverage.

Overall, the report finds that Wisconsin health insurance premiums for large and medium sized employers have more than tripled since 2000, increasing 226% since the year 2000 statewide, and as much 381% in some areas.

“The striking numbers in this report make it clear that state lawmakers need to move beyond the divisive debate over the Affordable Care Act and put a sharp focus on making health care truly affordable,” said Robert Kraig, the report lead author and the Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “It is absolutely stunning that health insurance premiums have tripled since 2000, yet the Governor and the Legislature are doing nothing to address the crisis. Wisconsin workers and families will not have full control of their own health care decisions until we make health coverage affordable for everyone in Wisconsin.”

We welcome subzero wind chills by discussing the reckless plan by Trump and Congressional Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a viable replacement. We also look at Trump's diverse and highly qualified cabinet picks (we kid); the scathing report of dysfunction at the state's ethics agency by a resigning commissioner; more outsourcing follies at WEDC; new data on the high cost of private vouchers for public education; the latest on Paul Ryan's relationship with Trump; and the the atrocious conduct of Donald Trump's favorite Sheriff, David Clarke.

America meet a real working class hero, Chuck Jones, the president of United Steelworkers 1999, who told Donald Trump “He's lying his a-- off," about his boasting of saving 1,100 jobs at Carrier. We discuss how Jones’ bluntness has entrapped Trump into a Twitter war with Jones that is keeping the issue in the national media spotlight and revealing Trump's phony solution. We also review Sen. Mitch McConnell’s comment this week that repealing the Affordable Care Act will be the first item up on January 3rd. We also look at how the Wisconsin GOP’s fight over the state transportation budget presents an opportunity for state Democrats to start articulating a compelling alternative vision for a 21st century transportation system that connects all our communities and our workers to tomorrow’s jobs and opportunities. We also update the presidential recount in Wisconsin.

This week the panel dives into the presidential recount that is now underway in Wisconsin. What's behind the recount, and could it change the result? Next the panel examines Trump's claim that he has cut a deal to save Carrier workers from outsourcing, and what his appointment of Tom Price as Health and Human Services Secretary means for the future of health care. We also look at redistricting reform legislation from Senator Dave Hansen, the State Senate recount in La Crosse, and more.

We welcome Citizen Action Organizing Cooperative member, Sachin Chheda, who is the Director of the Fair Elections Project to discuss the Thanksgiving victory this week for the gerrymandering redistricting lawsuit. On Monday, judges ruled 2-1 that the GOP Assembly redistricting maps were unconstitutional because they were "intended to burden the representational rights of Democratic voters ... by impeding their ability to translate their votes into legislative seats." Sachin tells us more about the lawsuit and we discuss next steps and its prospects before the U.S. Supreme Court. Robert also address the potential for a Presidential recount in Wisconsin and two other states.

We discuss the news that plaintiffs in Wisconsin’s redistricting lawsuit have asked judges to update their case with results from the 2016 state Assembly races. The plaintiffs say the 2016 election results suggests that the current plan’s efficiency gap continues to be large and pro-Republican. We focus our election attention forward toward next Spring’s State Superintendent election featuring incumbent Tony Evers and John Humphries, who has the support of private school voucher supporters. This week Evers wisely announced his 2017-18 budget that helps rural districts and declining enrollment districts keep quality teachers. Jorna educates us on the potential Trump cabinet appointments and has the latest Paul Ryan news. Robert discusses the impending attack on access to affordable healthcare in 2017 and what we can start doing now. We also celebrate the success of our RadioActive campaign and the doubling of our Organizing Cooperative.

Our panel discusses the profoundly disappointing and distressful results of Tuesday's election, both nationally and in Wisconsin. We also are joined by Citizen Action Cooperative organizers Anna Dvorak and Luz Sosa to discuss the closing stretch of the membership drive.

In the last podcast before Election day the panel discusses late breaking election news and the prospects for Russ and Hillary. Journalist Bill Kaplan joins us to evaluate Sen. Johnson's shocking comments on impeaching Hillary Clinton and Robert discusses the newfound conservative concern about the cost of health care. Cooperative Organizer Anna Dvorak joins us with an update on the latest from Citizen Action's fast growing organizing cooperatives. We also catch up on the anti-Paul-Ryan sentiment in Trump-land in our Paul Ryan Watch segment. All this and much, much more!

The panel reminds everyone to volunteer and GOTV!