Will the latest hospital merger help consumers?
Will patients/consumers of Froedtert Health and ThedaCare be better off after the just announced merger of the two Wisconsin health systems? Will Wisconsin Attorney General Joshua Kaul exercise any of his authorized oversight of the merger for the benefit of … Read the rest
Why are we ducking ugly health costs?
How about a little quiz on one of the nation’s biggest issues that got almost no attention in the state and national midterm elections? Quiz Question 1: What’s the second largest economic challenge facing the country? Roaring inflation is on … Read the rest
Where’s Kaul on Health Cost Battle?
If ever an industry needed fundamental disruption, it’s the health care industry in America. I’m not talking about the pure medical side of the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC), which can be wonderful to the point of miraculous. I’m talking about … Read the rest
Wisconsin 4th highest for health costs; Rand, Indiana lead reforms
For decades, self-ensured employers have been fighting -- mainly by themselves -- to put the brakes on out-of-control health costs. But finally, believe it or not, help is on the way from the federal government. A new federal law requires … Read the rest
Rebel Companies go “BUCA-free” for health care
STEVENS POINT -- After some relief from health cost hyper-inflation during the COVID fall-off in treatments, costs are again rising, self-insured companies in central Wisconsin are revving up a rebellion against the Medical Industrial Complex. Among their tactics they are … Read the rest
Americans must play new job game better
No one disputes that the severe shortage of workers has become a drag on the U. S. economy. Nor that it looks to be a long-term problem. For lack of labor, restaurants have closed either permanently or for some days … Read the rest
Endangered bats start flying again
After seven to eight years of watching almost helplessly as little brown bats careened toward extinction, Andy Hanks has newfound reason for optimism. Hanks comes from a family of bat gurus. He is in the pest control business in Door … Read the rest
Upstream flood control pays off in Milwaukee watershed
This year’s heart-breaking floods in central Europe and big swaths of the United States point to how far-sighted conservationists have been in their work along the Milwaukee River and its three tributaries in Washington and Ozaukee Counties. For decades they … Read the rest
Unexpected state surplus could fix budget myopia
For Wisconsin politicians, August was Christmas. The Legislative Reference Bureau has just released a new budget projection for 2021-23, and it showed an astounding $1.7 billion in new surplus dollars. Thanks to a booming economic recovery, tax revenues rolled in … Read the rest
State leaders weak on growth initiatives
If you have been in business for a while, you will have learned that you can’t cut your way to success. Layoffs, cutbacks in new equipment, deferring maintenance, shelving R&D, may be necessary to get through some tough patches, but … Read the rest
