The president was in Green Bay yesterday to develop support for his healthcare "reform" proposal the cornerstone of which is a 1.2 trillion dollar increase in total healthcare spending. The good news is he came to the right state.
As pointed out in the following Washington Post editorial if everyone got their care in Green Bay or Lacrosse, and I would add Appleton, the nation's medicare bill could be cut in half. This is because these markets are remarkably more efficient with very high quality. This conclusion is based on data derived from the Dartmouth Atlas of Healthcare which has been publishing medicare cost and quality reports for more than 10 years.http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/
Look at the following comparisons in total spending for medicare benficiaries between New Jersey communities and Wisconsin communities. Oh,and by the way the overall quality scores are better in the Wisconsin communities too.
Atlantic City NJ 31001 9587.81
Hoboken NJ 31020 10366.74
Newark NJ 31035 11528.04
Appleton WI 52003 6312.55
Green Bay WI 52035 6259.63
La Crosse WI 52045 5165.33
When we talk about healthcare value these communities in Wisconsin are delivering it. Covering everyone is not the answer to reducing healthcare costs. Incenting the industry to act like the providers in Appleton, Green Bay and Lacrosse is.
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