Democratic Governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle
Looks like Wisconsin wants to get ahead of the crowd. Again.
Gov. Jim Doyle signed Executive Order #312 yesterday, establishing the new Wisconsin Office of Health Care Reform. The office, co-chaired by Wisconsin Secretary of Health Services Karen Timberlake and Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg, will manage the state's implementation of federal health reform, particularly the creation of a consumer-friendly health insurance exchange. Possibly even before 2014.
“Our direction is now pretty simple. It isn’t to rehash the political debate,” Doyle said at Froedtert Hospital on Wednesday. “It isn’t just to fight this all out. It is to make sure we are really looking out for Wisconsin citizens.”
We couldn’t agree more. Full implementation will take years, but Wisconsin anticipates it will be the state everyone’s eyeballing in the near future. The state is also already at work on applying new federal funding and rules to expand its coverage of seriously ill uninsured people through its high risk pool.
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