What is ScareCrow Walker up to - Health Care Risks!

(4/21 thoughts) This blog entry below was written, mostly on 2/11, and updated for actual "blogging" on 3/2 - Walker: Budget Repair, Healthcare - Hidden Agenda, Retirees Beware .  It ranks right up there with some of the "scariest" things that Walker might try to do and that must urgently, even proactively be counteracted.  Only if the editors and journalists and public remain vigilant will another "budget repair" scare be prevented.  The major concern, among so many, is from a letter, quoted in that blog entry, that Governor Walker sent to all state employees.

From the blog entry -

Even more troubling, in a letter by the Governor to state employees, he directs -

“the Group Insurance Board to implement changes to health insurance plan designs to further reduce premiums by 5 percent and will implement health risk assessments for all state employees beginning on January 1, 2012. “

What does this mean? Sounds like a clever way of saying you are going make some employees pay more for their health care than others!? Older employees perhaps? Diabetic employees maybe? Employees with preexisting conditions? With Governor Walker putting himself in charge of agency rule writing and review – who knows? There are over 191,000 state annuitants, who may or may not have associated health care, which they pay for in full – are they going to be impacted?

The original "blog" context raised the alarm for annuitants - that they could find their health care coverage changed significantly even though they pay for it in full as an out of pocket expense.  If coverage options change for state employees and other governmental employees then almost certainly annuitants will be affected as well!

Let's repeat the quote from the letter and remove a little verbiage so as to focus more clearly on the scary part!

“the Group Insurance Board  ... will implement health risk assessments for all state employees beginning on January 1, 2012. “

What does this mean?  If "implementation" meetings are or will take place who will attend and when will they be held?  What information is on the record of these meetings.  What exhibits have been or are being produced?

How does one file a FOIA request before the fact or even after the fact about such "implementation planning?"

Back to the abridged letter from the Governor and what it means!  The original blog entry suggested, repeated again -

What does this mean? Sounds like a clever way of saying you are going make some employees pay more for their health care than others!? Older employees perhaps? Diabetic employees maybe? Employees with preexisting conditions? With Governor Walker putting himself in charge of agency rule writing and review – who knows?

Very scary ... you should be wary if not afraid, very wary!


#WRS annuitants worry WI 1848 Forward: What is ScareCrow #Walker up to - #HealthCare Risks!