(WisBusiness) WED News Summary — 8 Apr. 2009

From WisBusiness.com …

— Former HHS secretary and GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson told a panel of business, labor and political leaders in Madison that while the problems facing national health care are greater than ever before, addressing them will be easier because all interests “bring something to the table.”

Thompson, in conjunction with the UW Law School and America’s Agenda, hosted a “Summit Conversations” event on health care reform Tuesday afternoon. The event, moderated by John Harwood of CNBC and the New York Times, showcased a broadening consensus that leaders on all sides of the political and economic spectrum are ready to consider solutions to ballooning health care costs.

“(They) really understand that the system costs too much,” said former House Speaker Dick Gephardt, D-Missouri, who led Congress during the contentious debate over health care reform in the early 1990s. “We have an ideal situation to really get all the partners together.”

Thompson laid out six goals for reforming the health care system, including three that both parties agree should get done: shifting from treatment to prevention-based care, utilizing electronic medical records, and creating an electronic prescription system.

The remaining goals, which generated more debate among the panel, included creating access for uninsured Americans, dealing with increasing Medicare costs, and paying for the health care solutions.

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, praised the Obama administration for going into “listening mode” on health care reform, promising that the administration wouldn’t deliver reform “coming down from the mountain etched in stone,” but with input from all interested parties.

See more on the story: http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=154753

— An executive for Johnson and Johnson, the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world, is watching for coming health care reform efforts to focus on prevention and wellness, building a medical information infrastructure and improving access to health insurance for all Americans.

David Norton, the chairman of New Jersey-based Johnson and Johnson’s pharmaceutical group, sees value in the current push for health care reform, but prefers a solution that centers on the private sector.

“I think there needs to essentially be a private-driven health care system,” Norton said. “But, we also need to have a public plan to support those less privileged or those less advantaged. … But I think the drive of having a competition within a private system has actually proved to be quite beneficial.”

Norton, in Madison Tuesday to take part in America’s Agenda for Health Care summit conversation sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Law School, predicted some solutions will be on the way fairly soon, with Congress and the Obama administration starting on health care reform this year or the beginning of next year.

Read more in a new WisBusiness interview: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=154760

— A new report finds that 1.2 million Wisconsin residents were uninsured at some point in 2007-2008.

Among the uninsured Wisconsinites, one in four was under age 65 and four out of five were in working households. Minorities and lower-income residents were much more likely to go uninsured then higher-income and white individuals. Of those who were uninsured, 68 percent went without coverage for six months or more.

The report was conducted by Families USA and based on data collected by the Census Bureau and the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. A spokesman for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, one of Families USA national partners, was unable to immediately provide statistics on the number of uninsured Wisconsin residents from 2006-2007.

See the release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=154684

— Wisconsin’s retail food prices have fallen by over 3 percent since the end of 2008.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s ‘Market Basket’ quarterly survey found the average cost of 20 basic food items totaled $55.85 in the first quarter of 2009.  That was a $2.06 decrease from the survey’s average price of $57.91 in the fourth quarter of 2008.  It marks the survey’s second straight quarterly decrease, as prices fell in the last quarter of 2008 by nearly 2 percent.

See the release: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=154734

— Cell Line Genetics, LLC in Madison has received a $250,000 Technology Venture Fund loan to develop two new technologies for stem cell research. The state Department of Commerce has also certified the company as a Qualified New Business Venture eligible for investor tax credits under the Angel Investor and Venture Fund Tax Credit programs.

See details: http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=154710

— Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the Department of Natural Resources announced that the emerald ash borer has been confirmed in Vernon County, across the state from the southeastern Wisconsin counties where it was first spotted.

The tiny, invasive beetle, whose larva destroys North American ash trees, was discovered in Victory, a small community along the banks of the Mississippi River, about 20 miles south of La Crosse.

See details: http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=154699

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