Heath Insurance Costs More In Milwaukee

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MILWAUKEE - Did you know you pay more for health insurance depending on where you live in Wisconsin? When you're sick, you have to go the hospital, but getting that doctor's bill makes a lot of people feel sick all over again. Now, a new report says where you live could determine how much your health insurance costs. Lillian Stoebe is struggling not just with her diabetes, but with the cost of her health insurance. “We've gone many, many years where our employer had paid fully our health insurance, and now we have to pay a weekly fee for our health insurance,” Stoebe said. Costs are going up in a big way, and a new report says Wisconsin is seeing the increases more than most states. "We have a national problem. Health insurance premiums have increased 119 percent since 1999 national, but it's even worse in Wisconsin,” Robert Kraig with Citizen Action of Wisconsin said. There's a big difference depending on where you live. Citizen Action of Wisconsin reports Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha average $7,900 a year in premiums. That's $300 to $500 more than you'd pay in Waukesha and Sheboygan. “We've always known we've been higher on costs. We've been trying to get the HMOs to lower their prices, come down a little bit,” Stoebe said. Citizen Action of Wisconsin wants the government to step in and make health insurance more affordable. The Wisconsin Association of Health Plans says insurance costs more because visits to the doctor cost more. "Any reform proposal that fails to address the cost of health care will not make health insurance more affordable,” Phil Dougherty with the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans said. It's important to note that Citizen Action of Wisconsin, the group that created this report, is pushing for a health care reform referendum on next week's ballot.