'It's very frustrating': local voters talk about challenges with rising healthcare costs (2024)

Half of insured Americans worry about affording their health insurance premiums.

Taking care of their medical bills is impacting their healthcare, from deductibles to premiums.

Juliana Zoet likes to spend quality time with her teenage son Christian.

She has a good-paying job and employee health insurance, but she still worries about medical bills.

"The deductible is so high just out of pocket I'm still paying from 2023 and 2024 on a payment plan," said Zoet.

She remembers a time when that wasn't an issue. "When I had Christian, I didn't see a bill."

When Julie Buckholt is feeling stressed about her life-threatening illness, she can pull out her paintbrushes.

There are days when her Myasthenia Gravis - a rare neuromuscular disease impacts every part of her body from eating to breathing to smiling.

If she won a million dollars it would not be enough to cover all her weekly infusions.

"The cost for these medications is out of control," said Buckholt.

When the Milwaukee educator went on disability - Medicare helped cover her costs.

"I still have to fight for my medication with disability."

She has learned to navigate charitable foundations for financial help with her medication.

Before that, she became a big fan of the Affordable Care Act which ended lifetime limits on benefits and protected families like hers with pre-existing conditions.

But challenges exist.

"We need to have easier access to doctors with an illness like this and you're waiting to see a specialist. It's very frustrating," said Buckholt.

President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act is expected to provide financial relief to millions of people on Medicare struggling with very expensive prescription drugs by capping out-of-pocket drug spending.

Xavier Becerra is the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

"We've got to pull the curtain that's masking how drug pricing is done," said Sec. Becerra when asked how to lower drug costs for everyone.

The new law will allow the Secretary to negotiate with drug companies on a selected 10 specific drugs covered by Medicare Part D.

"We want the manufacturers to still make their profit. But we don't want to pay hyperextended prices."

In his first term, former President Trump signed the Right to Try Law to make experimental drug treatments and drugs available to people facing terminal illnesses.

Trump has talked about replacing the Affordable Care Act but it's unclear how or what that would look like.

Tommy Thompson is a four-time elected Republican governor and was Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush.

He says the healthcare system needs attention.

It's not on life support, but it has some serious problems.

Problems that Thompson partially blames on too many rules and regulations that make the healthcare system less efficient and accessible.

He believes innovation is needed to allow doctors and nurses more time to see more patients.

"There are a lot of regulations we have that people don't adhere to," said Thompson. "We should get rid of those. We should make it more streamlined and efficient."

For Juliana Zoet, the sooner the better to find a solution.

"I think we can all benefit from coming together," said Zoet. "It can be fixed, if you sit at the table with an open mind and talk about the issue instead of the political part of it."

Wisconsin voters in a recent Marquette Law Poll gave President Biden higher marks for handling healthcare than Trump.

But the issue itself ranked in the single digits on the importance behind the economy, immigration and border security, or abortion policy.

It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.

Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

Report a typo or error

Report a typo

now signed up to receive the Morning Headlines Newsletter.

Click here to manage all Newsletters