Wis. GOP bills to allow "a la carte" health insurance policies to ignore state mandates

[Shiver]

:mad: :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad: :grr:

Full story here: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/health_med_fit/vital_signs/article_cff5e032-48ed-11e0-8d81-001cc4c03286.html

Republican lawmakers are working on a pair of bills that would allow insurance policies in Wisconsin to ignore state mandates requiring coverage for a broad variety of medical treatments and conditions, including autism, cochlear implants and mental health problems.

I realize those of us interested in health care are swamped just trying to make sense out of the budget bill and the budget-repair bill that came before that, and what they will mean especially to Medicaid programs, but this new legislation seems pretty significant, too. In fact, for some people, it could mean a double whammy---for example, one Madison family with a child who has autism just contacted me to say they are now worried about getting hit on two fronts: they could lose coverage from both their private insurance and Medicaid plans.

.....

I first heard about this legislation from a story in Monday's online Wisconsin Health News, which quotes a memo distributed by the authors as claiming the pair of bills "expands on our reform agenda by addressing additional needs of smal business and individuals looking for affordable health insurance policies."

Advocates voiced dismay at what would appear to be the imminent undoing of years of hard-fought mandates. "I am appalled at the cruelty of this legislation," says Nissan Bar-Lev, the president of the Autism Society of Wisconsin, who knew nothing about the proposals until I called him. "This particular legislation must be good for insurance companies, but it is going to be devastating for families who need help the most."

This one hits really close to home for me. Growing up with an autistic sibling, I know how difficult it was for my parents and how hard they had to fight to get him what he needed. These bills are just appalling, and are just driving home the need to remove these sick fucks from office.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that Walker is a sociopath. He's showing a complete disregard for other people, appears to have no empathy whatsoever, lying without compunction, and a whole slew of other traits. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to find bodies buried in his basement...

I am so mad right now I could... do something people do when they're really mad.

:mad: :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad: :grr:

[HockeyMom]

1. Unless you are young, rich, white, christian and male

you are nothing but dirt and not worth a dime in their book. I hope the American public wakes up out of their coma soon or it's all over.

[Snoutport]

2. Autism under attack in Oregon too...

Thanks for sharing this article! I'm in Oregon and they are trying to do away with the ESD model here. A good portion of the state's kids in special education get their education through them. They have the classrooms in the children's hospitals, county jails, the really tough special ed kids, gang kids...all the kids nobody else wants. There are two bills here--one gets rid of the ESD altogether...another will cut its budget by 36% (I think 36%).

Either one will close a good portion of the city's special ed rooms and those kids will get dumped in rooms all over the city. Imagine having 3 or 4 of the city's most violent kids dumped into your already full special ed room.

[Lifelong Protester]

3. I'm joining you in the snarkfest... but I gotta run to a school function

(with all the other 'freeloaders' and 'slobs'...)

[Shiver]

5. Plenty of snark avaliable for you when you get back.

:hi:

[glinda]

4. I read awhile back that some Am. Companies were trying to do that in Canada.

IMHO, by parsing out medical areas, they could start chipping away at their HC system.

[asjr]

6. My three-year-old grandson was

diagnosed today with autism. We knew something was wrong. My daughter took him to Vanderbilt where he was diagnosed. She had just recently got a job, but with no insurance. I do not know what the future holds for her--she has two daughters older. She is separated from her husband and has no intentions of going back to him. He threw her and the children away. She called me from Nashville to tell me about it and could not hold back the tears. I did not tell her "don't worry" because those are the two most useless words to say to a mother. I will see her tomorrow to learn more. Her children are on TennCare now so I assume there will be some help for her, although I am not sure of anything anymore.

[Shiver]

7. It's going to be rough.

Especially the teenage years. I wish I could say more, honestly, but I don't know what else I can, other than to tell her to keep at it. My parents had to fight for everything they could get for my brother. I can only hope Tennessee is better.

:grouphug:

[ShadowLiberal]

8. When will states learn that nullification is unconstitutional?

If the healthcare law says those treatments have to be covered, then they have to be covered. Passing a law like this just causes an expensive lawsuit that the state will inevitably lose.