The Potential for a Small-Employer Purchasing Pool in Wisconsin: Issues and Options for Overcoming Barriers to the Development of the Private Employer Health Care Coverage Program (PEHCCP)
Authors: Rick Curtis, Rafe Forland, Ed Neuschler
January 2003
IHPS was asked by the Department of Employee Trust Funds (Department) and the PEHCCP Board to study the smalll business purchasing coalition in Wisconsin and develop recommendations on what changes were required to begin operation of this program
The report suggests three strategies, either alone or together, that offer the best, and perhaps only, hope for successful implementation of the program:
- Small Group Market Rating Reforms - moving to a modified community rating system where the only variation allowed for premium rates charged to small groups would be due to size, age and geography.
- Extending coverage to the uninsured and making coverage more affordable for small employers - providing subsidies for those obtaining coverage through the pool.
- The pool is the only small employer health insurance market - requiring that all health insurance sold to small employers be sold only through the pool.
This report was prepared for the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds.
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