• Marquette's department of political science sponsored a roundtable discussion on health care in Wisconsin last Thursday
• Nine panelists represented a variety of interests, including non-profits, insurance companies, and state government.
• Topics included the rising cost of health care, quality and access issues, and the Healthy Wisconsin legislation.
• Over 150 attended

It was standing room only in the Alumni Memorial Union Ballrooms for Thursday's panel on health care, an extremely important and ongoing issue this election year according to Susan Giaimo, visiting assistant professor of political science and an organizer of the event.

"I thought it would be good to get a wide range of perspectives on the health care debate," Giaimo said, referring to the nine panelists who represented everyone from private insurance companies to members of the Wisconsin state Senate.

The panel, entitled "Health Care in Wisconsin: Where Do We Go from Here?" covered an expansive range of issues related to health care reform.

The topic was so broad, even two hours of heated discussion barely scratched the surface of the issue, Giaimo said.

"But I think we managed to get some of the main issues across," Giaimo said. "It was important for the public to hear these panelists, and it was also important for the panelists to take questions and hear citizens' concerns."

Because 500,000 people in Wisconsin lack health insurance, topics discussed varied from the issue of quality to concern over health care access.

Businessman John Torinus, chairman of Serigraph Inc., began the discussion with his consistent refrain of, "It's the costs, stupid."

"The point is, the costs can be managed, and that's the challenge we have in front of us," Torinus said.

Overall, there was unanimous agreement by all panelists that there is a health care crisis in terms of cost. The true debate, however, was over what the government's role should be in health care.

Opinions about the best solution ranged from a consumer driven system in which individuals could "shop around" for the best price and quality, to a universal system within the state.

Healthy Wisconsin is a state initiative that would establish a system of mandatory coverage. The plan would provide individuals with government credit to purchase health insurance from among a set of pre-approved plans.

State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton), the primary author of Healthy Wisconsin, said something like Healthy Wisconsin is necessary for the government to be proactive rather than reactive.

State Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), however, disagreed with the merits of the initiative.

"You don't just want to throw out the whole system we have now," Darling said. "People like the quality of care, they just think it costs too much."

The Healthy Wisconsin legislation was blocked in the state assembly in the midst of budget negotiations last year. Erpenbach said the initiative will be reintroduced after it is reworked to address concerns brought forth by small businesses.

Giaimo said she was "pleasantly surprised" at the large turnout, which included students, faculty and professionals from the community.

Some Marquette students, like Stephanie Woldt, a senior in the College of Nursing, came to the event to learn more about their future careers.

"As (future) health care professionals, I think it's important we're knowledgeable about legislation and the community that affects the patients we're going to be taking care of," Woldt said.

Others, such as Alex Hansen, attended the panel out of pure curiosity.

"I just have a developing interest in this," Hansen said, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. "It's a very big topic."