Health care and how we pay for it is a big deal—and getting bigger every day. If you personally pay health insurance or even if you pay a portion of your premium, you likely know just how big it’s getting, how expensive it has become. Businesses in Wisconsin, from small family-owned and run enterprises to large corporations, also know what a big deal health care and health insurance is. In fact, many employers cannot afford to provide their workers with this benefit anymore. And right there is the nub of this issue: is health insurance a benefit or a right?

Recent reports show that Wisconsin hospitals and healthcare in general are top-of-the-line in quality and services, but that top-tier ranking comes with horrendous prices. Going uninsured is risky, but sometimes there are few other options. So just what is the average Wisconsin family to do when one of them becomes sick, contracts a chronic illness, or gets injured?

The State Senate Democrats think they have the answer in an amendment to Senate Bill 40, the state’s biennial budget covering July 2007 through June 2009. Recently, the State Senate passed its version of the budget, along with this health-care amendment, known as “Healthy Wisconsin”—a provision, by the way, that the State Assembly promptly removed from its version of the budget.

Currently, Senate Bill 40, the budget bill, is being debated in the Conference Committee. Healthy Wisconsin is front and center in the discussion, primarily because it is a vast departure from what we, or any other state in the country for that matter, currently have and because it comes with a hefty price tag.

Healthy Wisconsin would insure every Wisconsin citizen under the age of 65 who is either employed full-time or has lived in the state at least a year. The plan creates a Healthy Wisconsin Authority with a Board of Trustees comprised of sixteen members appointed by the Governor. The Authority would oversee the Healthy Wisconsin Program by negotiating with healthcare network providers for coverage plans citizens can then choose from, as well as creating offices and departments to manage disputed claims, outreach, and helping Wisconsin citizens in their decisions.

The Healthy Wisconsin Plan purports to cut down on healthcare costs somewhat by having higher co-pays for individuals who go to the hospital when they don’t need to and by creating an advisory committee that will seek to promote healthier living. The costs of the plan will be paid for with a fourteen percent employer payroll tax resulting in a $15.2 billion tax increase in the first year. This plan will make Wisconsin a model for universal healthcare for the rest of the nation, but will also make Wisconsin the highest taxed state in the union.

Supporters of Healthy Wisconsin argue that it is time for the state government to take a bigger role in healthcare because the rising costs are causing employers to cut benefits, the self-employed to go uninsured, and those with chronic illnesses to lose eligibility. They argue that the cost of healthcare will drop under this plan because it spreads the costs out and requires everyone to pay.

Those who oppose the Healthy Wisconsin plan argue that they understand the healthcare situation in Wisconsin needs improvement, but this plan will do nothing for cutting the costs of healthcare. It simply delays the increases a few years longer, and eventually prices will continue to increase, causing the state to institute rationing and limiting plans. Health insurance costs so much because healthcare costs so much. Opponents argue that what the healthcare industry needs is more transparency and closer proximity between the consumer and providers to allow market forces to work and prevent so much inflation. They suggest expanding tax-exempt Health Savings Accounts to create other options for consumers, something Healthy Wisconsin would end.

The debate over Healthy Wisconsin is really between two separate fundamental ideologies. One says because the market is a whirlwind of ups and downs, the government needs to bring tranquility to that market with regulations and administration, distributing economic prosperity equally. The other says that the market will do a better job than the government in bringing economic prosperity, and churches, charities, and not-for-profit organizations will step in where the market fails.

As Christians, we must turn to our source for absolute truth to seek principles that will guide us in this type of situation. While the Scripture obviously says nothing directly about health insurance, it does have a great deal to say about our giving to the poor and providing for the sick. Nowhere in the Bible are governments told to take resources from some and give them to others. Beyond that, the citizenry’s health is not a responsibility of the government.

This leads us to the conclusion that we are not entitled to health care and health insurance just because we are Americans, or just because we are employed or just because some other reason. While we may have the right to seek better health care, help with paying for our health care is a benefit, not a right. The Healthy Wisconsin debate will show who in Wisconsin understands that principle and who doesn’t.

For Wisconsin Family Council, I’m Julaine Appling reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”