Governor's Task Force Advances Proposals to Make Health Outcomes More Equitable

Thursday, February 2nd, 2023 -- 5:00 PM

(By Sarah Lehr, Wisconsin Public Radio) A task force convened by the governor is advancing wide-ranging proposals for making health outcomes more equitable in Wisconsin. 

According to Sarah Lehr with Wisconsin Public Radio, the report, released Monday by the Governor's Council on Health Equity, highlights how measures ranging from preterm birth rates to life expectancy vary depending on race, income level and geographic area.

It also advances 20 recommendations for closing those gaps, proposals that the Council's Vice Chair Michelle Robinson says are intended to be comprehensive.

"We're often also talking about literally stolen hours, stolen years, stolen moments, as people are dying prematurely due to oftentimes what is preventable," said Robinson, who directs the Office of Health Equity within Wisconsin's Health Department.

"The Council selected and wanted to really focus on putting forth a set of proposals that wouldn't just address the immediate consequences of health impairments, but rather to move upstream and really try to get at those root causes."

Within the report are a host of economic policy proposals, which the task force says could counter economic inequalities and ultimately improve health. That includes raising Wisconsin's hourly minimum wage to $10.15 within three years, while creating another task force that would look at eventually raising that pay floor to $15 an hour.

Wisconsin's minimum wage for most adult workers is $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal minimum.  The report also suggests changes to Wisconsin's Medicaid program, such as making it easier to get reimbursed for children's dental work.

And it recommends extending postpartum coverage to a year after birth.

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