By A.M. Kelley
Superior Catholic Herald
Officials, pro-life advocates discuss health plan
SUPERIOR -- Nearly 10 percent of Wisconsin residents lack health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Health care costs of those who are insured are skyrocketing.
In June the Wisconsin State Senate included in its state budget what was said to be the most comprehensive health care reform proposal in the country. Dubbed "Healthy Wisconsin: Your Plan, Your Choice," the groundbreaking bill promised affordable, quality coverage for all residents.
It has since been dropped from the current year's budget, however, it is expected that the bill's main author, a Democrat and a Catholic, Sen. Jon Erpenbach of District 27 will introduce Healthy Wisconsin under separate legislation this fall ensuring continued debate on the topic.
What does this mean to Catholics in the state? Know the faith and know the issues, say the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, which reflects the views of Wisconsin's Roman Catholic bishops.
One question Healthy Wisconsin raises is this: Does the plan respect life?
Absolutely not, said the executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, Barbara Lyons, during a recent visit to Superior.
"It's certain that (Healthy Wisconsin) will include abortions and force taxpayers to pay for them," she said.
Not so, says Erpenbach.
"Healthy Wisconsin does not change any state law regarding public funding for abortion," he wrote in an e-mail letter to the Catholic Herald. "Under current state law 20.927 there is a clear prohibition of taxpayer funds for abortion."
This raises another question. Is there a loophole here? Some say yes. Will Healthy Wisconsin funds be deemed "taxpayers funds?"
Employers and employees would finance Healthy Wisconsin. Employers would pay a percentage of their employees' wages and likewise employees would pay a percentage. These payments replace payments for private health insurance. Anti-abortion groups fear that these funds could be regarded as something other than "taxpayer" funds.
The health care proposal will not change Wisconsin laws governing abortion or the availability of abortions. It is intended to alleviate the suffering, which results when people do not have access to health care, Erpenbach said.
"This is not a political issue and it is a shame some have made it that," he said. "Healthy Wisconsin is about providing people the dignity of health care and making health care obtainable by all."
Dave Newby, the president of the Wisconsin state AFL-CIO, spoke at a recent city of Superior health care symposium. His topic, "How the single payer system can help Wisconsin," was preceded by comments by Superior's mayor, David Ross.
"We're in a (health care) crisis," Ross said, "and we need a solution."
Newby said that Healthy Wisconsin is a labor/management partnership solution to the crisis and one in which the cost is spread out equitably.
"Everybody's paying their fair share," Newby said. "No more free riders. Even after covering the uninsured, the net savings under Healthy Wisconsin is $75 million in the first year. And it is estimated that Healthy Wisconsin will save $13.8 billion over the next 10 years."
What about abortion? Does Newby think that Healthy Wisconsin will open the door for elective abortions and force taxpayers to foot the bill? He said that statements like these are made on "false grounds."
"(Healthy Wisconsin) states very clearly that therapeutic abortions are covered," Newby said. "(Healthy Wisconsin) does not cover elective abortions, only those which are medically necessary."
Matt Sande, deputy state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, said his organization is wary of any broad-based health care plan and opposes taxpayer coverage of all abortions.
"If plans cover abortion and contraception--birth control--if (Healthy Wisconsin) would cover them, naturally we would oppose them," he said in a phone interview. "Abortion is not health care. Contraception is not health care. These are elective procedures."
What about the issue of therapeutic abortion? This raises another question. A therapeutic abortion is performed, legally in Wisconsin, almost always, to protect the health of the mother. Right to Life's position is that there are many ways to interpret concern for a mother's health and in its Sept. 20 news release, issued this statement: "Regardless of how it is defined, 'therapeutic abortion,' in the abortion context, is commonly understood to mean virtually any abortion," thereby opening the door for the funding of abortions under Healthy Wisconsin.
According to Sande, Pro-Life's stance is that an operation to save a mother's life, such as the removal of an entopic pregnancy or a cancerous uterus in which a fetus dies, is not a therapeutic abortion.
"The child is dying of a secondary effect," he said. "There is no direct intentional destruction of human life and it's justified to save the mother's life."
Even if exclusionary clauses were inserted in a Healthy Wisconsin proposal disallowing coverage for any abortions--therapeutic or not, Right to Life would not endorse it under the current administration of Democrat Gov. James Doyle.
"You just don't know," Lyons said. "The governor could put (abortion coverage) back in."
WCC does not endorse nor disapprove of Healthy Wisconsin. John Huebscher, WCC executive director, said it is WCC's job not so much to support specific health care bills but to urge people to be aware of certain principles of health care reform, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued in June 1993. These include: respect for life, priority concern for
the poor, universal access and cost containment (the principals are reprinted in full with this article).
Health care is a very complex issue, Huebscher said, and Healthy Wisconsin has a lot of good features.
"It does appear to achieve the goal of covering everybody in the state," he said in a phone interview with the Catholic Herald.
WCC places the responsibility of sorting through the health care proposals squarely on the shoulders of each and every voter. The USCCB calls the national health care system a "fundamental and enduring" necessity. It urges elected leaders to consider its criteria for reform. At the same time it requires taxpayers to study and be vigilant--read, listen to all points of view and make informed decisions.
Erpenbach maintains that Healthy Wisconsin helps children and adults alike who "forgo treatment and experience pain and financial loss because of lack of insurance and medical debt."
"This is not a good bill," Lyons said. "We oppose the health care plan."
"A healthy society advances the cause of human life," Huebscher said. "I think we would not tell people to vote against (Healthy Wisconsin)."
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2007