Study shows Superior health care costs among highest statewide

A cost comparison of health plans in Wisconsin for 2012 shows that La Crosse has the most expensive coverage, for the second year in a row.

Every year Wisconsin Citizen Action compares cost, inflation and quality of health coverage around the state. The three highest cost metro areas are La Crosse, Eau Claire and Superior. And Wisconsin health insurance rates have increased faster than the national average. Democratic state Sen. Jon Erpenbach of Middleton says this makes it expensive for employers in the state to provide health coverage for workers.

"It's really clear from this report that we do have a health insurance inflation problem here in Wisconsin that is harming our ability to create jobs and needless to say the Affordable Care Act is an opportunity for us to implement a competitive health care market,” he said.

The rate of health insurance inflation has changed over the years. In the year 2000, Madison was in the middle of state health costs. Now it's lowest of the metro areas. As premiums increased in other areas, the gap between regions has grown says Robert Kraig of Wisconsin Citizen Action.

"So you literally have a 32 percent gap in health insurance premiums between La Crosse and Madison; 31 percent between Eau Claire and Madison which amounts to over $2,000 a year for a single policy,” he said.

The report did not find that health care costs go hand in hand with quality. Some providers had higher costs and lower quality. And some relatively lower cost areas had high quality.

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