The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original
production. >> Congress Keeps the budget
knives sharp, carving away at federal funding, while
Wisconsin spending choices cast an eye toward the
bright lights of Hollywood. [MUSIC]
I'm Frederica Freyberg tonight on "Here& Now",
Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore talks taking back
the House in the midterm elections. Our series
uncovered looks at health plans that aren't actually
health insurance. [MUSIC]
the way for Hollywood to light up Wisconsin with film
maker tax credits. It's "Here& Now" for July 18th.
>> Funding for Here and Now is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
>> The dust is settling after passage of the federal
tax and Spending Reconciliation bill, which
is now law. What stands out for its impact in Wisconsin?
We turn to Democratic U.S. Representative Gwen Moore of
Milwaukee for her take on what it means for people in
her district. And thanks so much for being here.
>> Always good to be with you, Fredricka.
>> So what does stand out for its impact in your
district and across Wisconsin?
thing that is most outstanding in this bill is
the impact that will have on health care, on the Medicaid
cuts. Badger care, as we call it in Wisconsin. The
Affordable Care Act, Obamacare cuts. And when you
combine the work requirements to receive
Medicaid and when you the confluence of all those
forces means that they'll probably be something like
276,000 people in Wisconsin who will not receive any
kind of health care. And when you just just the work
requirements themselves will cost 68,000. Individuals
with no dependents to lose health care. And so the
theory of the case is that these are just lazy boys in
their mama's basements playing video games, and
there'd be no harm and no foul to cut them off.
Notwithstanding the fact we don't. We believe this. This
is not a real person. This is just a trope. We're
saying that in Wisconsin, a person who say has two
minimum wage jobs working at fast food restaurant, they
will at minimum wage, working full time. They will
make too much money to be eligible for Medicaid. So
they'll be whether they work or not. They won't receive
Medicaid. And then there are a number of people who are
truly eligible. They have children. They're already
working. Most people who receive Medicaid are already
working, but the numbers of the bureaucracy and the
paperwork that they have added into the bill is
really something that they have monetized. They have
monetized people's mistakes so that if you don't re-up
or come in every six months to reconfirm that you're
still disabled, or that you will find yourself off
Medicaid, and then those of you remember Frederica,
Wisconsin was one of those states. I believe it was
about 11 states that hadn't taken advantage of the
expansion of the Affordable Care Act. And those people
will see their premiums go eight, nine times the amount
that they're currently paying. So say, for example,
they were able to get a silver plan. And for the
purposes of keeping the math simple of $100 a month, they
might find themselves with six, seven, $800 a month. We
are thinking that the food share cuts snap cuts. Not
only will it cost thousands, hundreds of thousands of
people to be cut off food share, but it will also mean
that the state itself would have to pay 75% of the
administrative costs of the of the food stamp program.
The Snap program, as well as if there are an error rates
in excess of 6%, they'll find themselves having to
pay for portions of the food stamp program, which to date
that burden has never been an unfunded mandate that
will be placed on not only Wisconsin, but statewide. So
it is really a bad bill. >> People who fall off of
Medicaid because of the provisions of this bill and
potentially the burdensome kind of paperwork, what will
they do for health care then.
>> That will increase the amount of uncompensated care
that hospitals have to pick up. And it also means that
hospitals will have to make decisions about what kind of
health care they will or will not provide. We've seen
in the past, just recently, in our own community
maternity wards, closing, where hospitals will decide
we aren't going to do cardiac catheterizations
anymore. One of the things is, is that, you know, the
president predicts that people won't even pay any
attention. They won't even notice some of these
provisions don't come into effect until after the 2026
election. But that doesn't mean that hospitals won't
have to start planning and how to not deliver services.
Now. >> We know that the Trump
administration is apparently making good on its promise
to dismantle the US Department of Education. And
with it, as you suggested, funds that go to high
poverty K-12 schools and special education. How
pointedly will that be felt in Milwaukee?
>> Oh my God. I mean, you know, when you think about
their raison d'etre that there's waste, fraud and
abuse? I mean, that to cut education is like cutting
the lifeline of a community. When you think about
preparing the future workforce, I can see it
causing employers to flee the state. These Republicans
have demonstrated a real distaste for education. I
mean, and every everything from K through 12 to higher
education, where they're, you know, conditioning, Pell
Grants in a way that's never been done before. Cutting
off those, the ability for parents to borrow money to
send their kids to college. It is like a really big
mistake that's going to put not only Milwaukee, but the
nation behind. >> You've said that there is
truly no bottom to this bill's cruelty, but what can
you and other opponents do about it?
>> Well, you know, Frederica, I you know. I, I,
you know, I did I did not have a good 4th of July. I
was very, very upset. But you know what? It ain't over
until it's over. I think now, as we go through this
process, we are going to continue to talk about it.
We're going to continue to try to win the midterm
elections, win the hearts and souls and minds of
people. I know I've talked to several people who
confess to me that they voted for Donald Trump, but
they had no idea that that he was going to do the kinds
of things that he has done to them, because indeed, the
president's space needs Medicaid almost more than
anybody. The president's base needs snap. And they
certainly need educational opportunities. They're not,
you know, and I think that. Many people who sort of
thought that he was going to focus on throwing out
violent criminals who were immigrants and they were
going to get rid of the waste, fraud and abuse. And
of course, nobody wants waste, fraud and abuse. But
no one knew that, that all these cuts were just going
to result into a big bonanza. You know, $4.5
trillion for wealthy people who don't really need it.
While there are debates about whether or not we
should serve breakfast and lunch to school children,
nobody knew that that was a trade off.
>> Congresswoman Gwen Moore, thanks very much for joining
us. well, Rodriguez.
>> Thank you. Next week we speak with first district
Republican U.S. Representative Brian Steil.
As to congressional action this week, both the House
and Senate voted to rescind funding already appropriated
for the next two years to the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting. That's a $1.1 billion cut to PBS and NPR,
PBS Wisconsin is a member station of PBS.
[MUSIC] continuing coverage of
prescription drugs, where the cost for patients
continues to skyrocket as health coverage for critical
medication declines in uncovered here and Now,
producer Marissa Wojcik examines the complex systems
driving these trends and the stories of patients facing
life or death choices. Our next story is about a
leukemia patient who had a promising treatment that
cost the same as buying a house, and he couldn't
access it without paying upfront.
>> All of a sudden, my numbers were at like
167,000, compared to like 4 or 5000.
>> Kevin Walz has what's called chronic lymphocytic
leukemia or Kiel, a type of blood cancer. He was
suddenly in urgent need of treatment.
>> My cancer center. I can't say enough about him.
>> His oncologist had a prescription that was
promising, but it came at a price.
>> $13,000 before we could ship this. And I said
$13,000. Yes. That's what this drug costs to be
delivered without insurance. >> He soon discovered his
health plan wouldn't be covering a dime of his
medication. Calling it a non-preferred specialty drug
and putting him on the hook for 100% of the cost.
>> Nobody could do that. I don't care who you are.
>> This specialty drug costs $13,000 per month. It's a
non chemotherapy treatment. And the first FDA approved
medicine for people with a high risk form of Kiel with
no generic equivalent. >> I got lots of denial
letters and stuff over the months saying that there was
nothing they could do. And I'm running low on my month
supply and what am I going to do next month?
>> His clinic pleaded with his health plan to cover
some portion of his life saving medication under the
Affordable Care Act health insurance plans have cost
sharing requirements and limits to what a patient has
to pay out of pocket, covering prescription drugs
is considered an essential health benefit. However,
Kevin's health plan doesn't fall under the ACA because
it's not technically insurance. Instead, his
health coverage through his employer is what's called a
self-funded plan. These plans are also known as
self-insured, which is a bit of a misnomer.
>> We don't cover that because we're a self funded
insurance company. >> A self-funded plan is not
insurance. >> Sarah Davis is the
director of the center for Patient Partnerships, a
research and advocacy program at UW-Madison.
>> Being insurance is what triggers state regulation,
and there are rules those companies need to follow in
terms of mandatory benefits. They need to cover, right.
If there are claims being denied the protections that
that consumer has are reduced. In self-funded
plans. >> Today, self-funded plans
are the most predominant form of health coverage in
the US because they help employers save money.
>> Self-funding lets the employer take control of the
second or third biggest line item on their budget.
>> Mike Roach is the director of business
development at the Alliance, a Wisconsin organization
that helps employers design self-funded health plans.
>> If you're if you're not trying to manage it and
you're fully insured, you're going to get an increase
probably every year. The last few years, that's been
a double digit increase. And it's getting more and more
difficult for employers to find a way to control that
cost. >> Making it difficult for
employers to afford health coverage.
>> The reason that self-funded plans came about
is that employers realized they were paying a fixed
amount to the insurance company, and then it was the
insurance company had that, while holding the risk could
make the profit. And so employers realized, hey, we
if we hold all that money ourselves and only pay a
certain percentage in claims, we're keeping that
profit. The concern I have as a health advocate is that
a large motivation for having a self-funded plan is
to save money, and the place that the that the money is
saved is in paying out less claims.
>> A recent study shows the top issue for Wisconsin
businesses is to make health care more affordable. That
same study says the majority of people in Wisconsin are
very worried about their cost of health care.
>> Knowing that your self-funded and that there's
value to be found if you, as the employee, are good
stewards of the plan and seek value, that should have
a trickle down effect so that the next year you don't
see your part of that premium go up. You may not
have to change deductibles or co insurances so you can
get some stability in your plan.
>> But it's often difficult for people to even know what
kind of plan they have. >> It takes advocates and
patients sometimes quite a bit of time to parse out and
figure out that it is not insurance.
>> A lot of it comes back to transparency. What employees
employer has now become the insurance company. You know,
whether you're fully insured or self-funded. That plan,
doc, is the same, I think as long as an employee
understands the high level pieces of their plan design,
deductibles, co insurances, what's on their formulary
list from their PBM, who's in network from a doctor or
hospital standpoint that's going to cover 95 to 98% of
everything they do during the year.
>> So who pays for the big ticket items?
>> You know, there's a couple of drugs coming out.
They're going to be $3 million a piece. How am I
going to cover those? And how does that trickle down
to the humerus. And the stellaris that folks need on
a more regular basis, but are still, you know,
thousands of dollars a month?
>> Advocates say self-funded plans can create a conflict
of interest for employers who suddenly have an
employee with expensive health needs.
>> Maybe you could check in to going part time and see
if Medicare or something would help out. And I
thought to myself, really? You want me to go part time
now? I'm going to lose benefits. I'm going to lose
my insurance, and I'm going to be part time. Is this a
way to weed me out? Eventually.
situation, right. The employer wants to protect
the employee, right? They want to get the most for
their money. Once we're in a self-funded situation, the
employee is at odds with the employer.
>> The side effects of dealing with it all took a
toll. >> One day I sat on my phone
on hold from one of the drug companies for over six
hours. Just stressing me out to the point where I was not
paying attention to my healing.
>> Advocates at his clinic didn't let up.
>> They're very persistent, very persistent.
>> Exhausting every possible avenue to access his
medicine. After months of setbacks, good news arrived
from his clinic. >> She kept calling me and
calling me and calling me. She couldn't tell me the
news fast enough that they had come through. The drug
manufacturer said they were going to provide the
remaining dose of his treatment at no cost.
>> I don't think anybody should have to fight for
their life like that. It's hard enough just to sit back
and think about me not being here for the people around
me. I worry about not being here. Normal, I guess.
>> I worry for people who don't have hours and hours
and hours to read fine print and you know, make sure that
they're going to get what they need. If, you know, if
they get ill. >> In the end, Kevin hopes
some good will come from his experience.
several years ago. Even after he would go and have
spinal taps and stuff, he always said if they can
learn something from my treatments for the next
people, I've accomplished something in life. I say the
same thing. If they can get something out of me for
other people, I've done exactly what I wanted to do
in life. >> Reporting from Palmyra.
I'm Marisa Wojcik for "Here& Now".
>> In state budget news from 1987 to 2005, the state had
a film office spending millions of dollars to
attract blockbuster productions like Public
Enemies to film in Wisconsin in a sort of take. Two state
lawmakers just agreed to fund a new production
incentive program. The state budget reestablished the
Wisconsin Film Office and offers up to $5 million in
tax credits to filmmakers. They're banking on more
Hollywood movie makers and local filmmakers to bring
their work to Wisconsin. Here and now, reporter Murv
Seymour has details. >> Thanks, everybody for
coming. This is such a cool turnout. Let's talk about
bringing Tinseltown to the Chippewa Valley.
>> On this cool summer evening in the heart of
downtown Eau Claire. writing, story editing.
>> Locals passionate about filmmaking have come to the
town's library to learn. You can say that if you're
an actor, you can say that. >> Learn from each other
about what they can do to encourage and cultivate more
filmmaking projects, large and small, to be made in the
state of Wisconsin. >> This turnout is crazy.
>> Tim Schwagel helps set up for this night of
collaborating. lot of people care about
filmmaking, care about film or art in general. We're
kind of an island where it doesn't feel like there's a
lot of people that do filmmaking in the area. But
as I've learned over the years, is that people just
kind of appear and you meet someone who's right in the
same town. It's like, oh, you do this too. So this is
kind of the first time that we've had an event that
brings us all to one spot. >> Almost 70 people
passionate about filmmaking >> Somebody who sold a
Netflix movie, other people who have shown their
documentary around the state. Actors, writers. We
got Christmas tree farms. We can do Christmas movies
here. >> Tonight's event has been
organized and is led by Nathan Deming, a Los Angeles
filmmaker who splits his time between Hollywood and
his hometown of Eau Claire. >> Roll camera please.
>> So far, he's shot five movies in Wisconsin. He
wants to boost local filmmaking in big Hollywood
productions in the state. [MUSIC]
You're watching a clip from his most recent movie called
February. least in my world, could
have predicted ten years ago that we'd be looking at
headlines that Hollywood is leaving LA. I think the new
future is that films going to be everywhere in the
hotspots, and it's going to be because of things like
the film office. >> At a time when a movie
can be made anywhere. Up until now, Wisconsin was one
of only three states with no state film office and one of
only a few states that didn't offer financial
incentives to help lure productions to the state.
>> It is all about money. [MUSIC]
there's free money. >> Production incentives are
the number one factor that production companies
consider when they decide where to film.
>> I met with former Miramax movie executive Jeff Kurz
Inside Independent Studios, a post-production house in
Milwaukee that serves large Hollywood based productions
and local ones to. I'm going to guess that you're a
pretty important guy in the city.
his movie Deep Woods, and his last two films in
Wisconsin. >> Filmmaking is not
something that just happens in New York or Los Angeles
or Atlanta or Chicago. >> Kurz represents a
steering committee of filmmakers, business owners,
government officials and others who want Wisconsin to
compete with neighboring states in luring filmmakers
to film in the Badger State by dangling tax breaks.
>> When I was having a conversation with somebody
in Eau Claire, I said, listen, you have a beautiful
community. It is picture perfect to make a movie.
There. But without a film office, there is nobody to
tell an out of state production how great you
are. >> There's Banbury Place,
this crazy factory thing. You know, the rivers, you
know, we have so many locations here.
>> Wisconsin's revitalized film office will now become
part of the state's tourism department.
>> We are turning football fans into Wisconsin fans
every moment. We caught up with its leader during the
2020 NFL Draft in Green Bay. >> Is a lot about those
people coming into Wisconsin to do the production and
building a whole cottage industry around that, but
it's also about setting a perception once it's on the
big screen. That's also important to the long term
perception of Wisconsin. >> In 2024, the hit TV
series Top Chef filmed in Milwaukee. The show is a
highlight reel of Wisconsin culture, cuisine and
community that has the entire state cashing in from
its worldwide audience. >> Because people were
seeing this restaurant or that restaurant and then
just wanted to go there and try it. All of that is
possible as a reverberation from from filmmaking,
television making. So it's not just the filmmakers who
would benefit from something like that. It's really the
whole state. >> The county of Milwaukee
saw an uptick of $1.5 million in hotel room
rentals alone from people coming here to see to see
Wisconsin, right, to see what they had seen on
television. >> New Mexico implemented
these and then got Breaking Bad, which was not written
for New Mexico. It just went there because of tax
incentives. And then suddenly it not only got
that, it got better Call Saul. So two hit shows.
>> The talent's here and it's always a roll of the
dice to see if something blows up. But I think it's
easy for us to forget here in Wisconsin that Wisconsin
is just gorgeous. of that. The Driftless
Region, gorgeous. And Lake Michigan. So we have all of
these different terrains. We have cities like Madison and
Milwaukee. >> Superior offers 25% film
incentive for the city itself. If you stay at their
hotels. Right. As LA is losing jobs and filming,
Illinois is exploding. Minnesota is exploding. City
like Duluth. A lot of filming happening on the
Duluth side. Nothing on the Wisconsin side. And it's
just because of film incentives.
>> There are no dollars that are better than Hollywood
dollars. Hollywood filmmaker and
Milwaukee native John Ridley when it comes to him or any
other large budget film shooting in Wisconsin, he
point blank told me this. >> Until Wisconsin gets tax
credits, and that's something that I've
advocated for. No, that's not going to happen.
>> Ridley proudly tells me he routinely shoots smaller
projects in Wisconsin. >> But in terms of doing
feature films out here, whether it's myself or
anybody else, Wisconsin, I'm going to look into the
camera. You got to get tax credits. We've talked about
this. You got to advocate for tax credits.
>> Enough said. Mr. Ridley. action.
>> Georgia built a really good film incentive program
and brought in a lot of business. And there's movies
now that are set in New York City. But if you watch the
credits, there's going to be of it. There is zero
soundstages in the entire state of Wisconsin. So right
now that's a huge thing that if productions want to film
like 100 years, the film industry is morphing and we
have a real opportunity to pick up the work, just like
our neighbors Illinois and Minnesota are doing.
>> Reporting from Eau Claire. I'm Murv Seymour for
"Here& Now". For more on this and other issues facing
Wisconsin, visit our website at PBS Wisconsin and then
click on the news tab. That's our program for
tonight. I'm Frederica Freyberg. Have a good
weekend. [MUSIC]
>> Funding for here and Now is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.