NEWS
BadgerCare Plus kicks off statewide
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by Beth Mueller
Friday, February 1, 2008
Parents of previously uninsured Wisconsin children can begin
to sign them up for health insurance starting today, as a new state health care
plan takes effect, giving about 98 percent of Wisconsinites access to health
insurance.
Low-income families will be able to sign up for coverage for
free, and families earning up to about $48,000 a year will have coverage for
$10 per month.
The program synthesizes Medicaid, Badger Care and Healthy
Start, and according to Gov. Jim Doyle’s spokesperson Carla Vigue, it uses a
great deal of federal, rather than state, funding.
Ninety percent of Wisconsinites already have access to
health insurance, Vigue said Thursday.
“But there still is a gap, and it is a large number of
children who are uninsured,” she added. “[The plan was introduced] to make sure
every single child in the state has access to affordable health insurance.”
Doyle first proposed the idea in his 2005 State of the State
address, and it was included in the final biennial budget after much debate.
“Health care in Wisconsin should be a birthright, not a
ticket to bankruptcy,” Doyle said in a statement. “BadgerCare Plus is simple
and will provide health care coverage that our children deserve at a price
families can afford.”
Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbottsford, was a member of the joint
committee that wrote the budget.
“I did question some aspects of BadgerCare Plus,” Suder
said. “While I originally had some concerns with it, … in the overall budget
package there was more good than bad.”
BadgerCare Plus was the alternative to a universal health
care plan supported by Senate Democrats during the budget deliberations.
“When it came down to it, I would much rather have an
incremental plan like BadgerCare Plus than a socialized medicine plan like the
Democrats were pushing, which was universal health care,” Suder said.
Community organizations like the YMCA will receive a total
of $500,000 in grants to start signing children up for the plan.
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