Wisconsinites Pay Thousands More on Average for Health Insurance Than Minnesotans

MILWAUKEE, Oct. 26 -- Citizen Action of Wisconsin issued the following news release:

On a media call today Citizen Action of Wisconsin was joined by Wisconsin State Senator Dave Hansen, Wisconsin State Representative Jimmy Anderson, and Minnesota State Representative Jennifer Schultz made the case that the large health insurance rate increases announced this month could be avoided, and released a new analysis on comparative health insurance costs in Wisconsin and Minnesota. An audio recording is available here (https://app.box.com/s/1z0aknlqrxk9vauay9iwfhyp0ie7015j).

Citizen Action of Wisconsin analyzed healthcare cost - premiums and deductibles - variations between Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as the major metropolitan areas in both states.

Key Findings (full metro area charts below)

* Minnesota_2018_green_bay.pngFor the most common Silver plan Wisconsin consumers will pay 45 percent more annually on average in premiums than Minnesota consumers.

* For metro areas, the second lowest cost silver plan total premiums will range from 18 percent higher to more than double (144 percent higher) in Wisconsin, compared to the average premium in Minnesota.

* These percentage differences translate into $727 - $5,676 more per person per year in premiums alone in Wisconsin depending on geography.

* Northeast Wisconsin has seen a large spike in price, with Green Bay $5,676 more per person than Minneapolis for a similar plan in 2018.

* This disparity is quite stark on the border regions of the states, who often share medical providers. Residents of Superior WI would see premiums $1,399 higher and deductibles $2,250 higher for the same plan compared to those across border in Duluth.

"These new numbers are further proof that states like Wisconsin which are taking no action to address health insurance costs fare worse than those like Minnesota who are moving forward to improve the health care system," said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. "Governor Walker and the State Legislature have it within their power to both dramatically reduce the cost of health insurance, and protect Wisconsinites from and disruption of coverage that could result from President Trump's reckless actions. It is time for Walker and the Legislature to stop playing politics with health care and immediately pass the BadgerCare Public Option bill."

See table here (http://www.citizenactionwi.org/analysis_wisconsinites_pay_thousands_more2017).

"The high cost of health insurance is just not sustainable in either Minnesota or Wisconsin," said Minnesota State Representative Jennifer Schultz (DFL-Duluth). "Our state ensured junk policies can't be sold, and audited our health plans in Minnesota to root out unjustified premium increases."

"Even the Governor's own Insurance Commissioner admits that the reason we're seeing this spike in premiums is because of the actions by President Trump and the Republicans," said Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay). "It's really difficult to understand how their actions are helping middle class families in my district who could see their premiums over $5,600 per year higher than places like Minneapolis. And many of these families earn too much to qualify for the subsidies so they will bear the full impact of these increases."

"It's not just what President Trump is doing at the federal level to destabilize health markets but it's the inaction at our state level that is causing large amounts of pain," said State Representative Jimmy Anderson (D-Fitchburg). "There's been a real dearth of consumer protection bills that protect Wisconsinites from junk policies and excessive costs which is hurting families."

"Our family has a Silver plan with a $10,000 family deductible, which I believed was already too much, but we were shocked to see a letter from our insurance company saying that because of the uncertainty and removal of the federal tax credits we'll see an over 250 percent increases for the premiums alone next year," said Renee Gasch, a young mother from DePere Wisconsin. "My family doesn't qualify for any subsidies, so we will feel the full brunt of that. We are not prepared to spend $26,000 on healthcare next year on top of mortgage, student loans, and general expenses. We're debating dropping our coverage to have the money to cover our young daughter."