America's health care crisis keeps getting worse, and the Bush administration refuses to take action. So activists at the state level are finding solutions of their own. 

In Wisconsin, for example, union members mobilized around the Wisconsin Health Care Partnership Plan, a labor-management partnership solution to the state's health care crisis.

The plan would be financed by a fair split of costs between employees and employers. Employers would pay a standard monthly assessment for each employee. Employees would pay their fair share in the form of deductibles and co-payments, with the standard employer assessment considerably less than $300 per worker per month in 2003, the year the actuarial study was done.

The employee share of the cost would be paid through co-pays ($15 per physician visit, $10 for generic prescription drugs, $20 for brand-name prescriptions) and deductibles ($300 per year for a single person, $600 for a family). The Wisconsin plan differs significantly from the recent health care plan passed in Massachusetts, which would increase health care costs for employees while relieving employers of their health care responsibilities.

• Read more about the Wisconsin Health Care Partnership Plan (PDF).
• Download a one-page fact sheet on the Wisconsin plan (PDF).
• Learn why President Bush's Health Savings Account Plan is a bad deal for consumers.
• See how your congressional lawmakers voted on health issues.