News

BadgerCare to expand coverage

Medicaid health care change in July to aid uninsured graduates

With the downturn of the economy and a record number of students graduating from college each year, University of Wisconsin alumni are finding themselves entering an increasingly competitive workforce that leaves little time and money to put towards health insurance.

“Most students I talk to either know nothing about health insurance or don’t think about it or know they don’t have options, so just refuse to think about it,” said Marysa LaRowe, student assistant for ABC for Health. “A popular attitude is, ‘Well, I just never get sick, so I’m not going to worry.’”

An expansion of Wisconsin’s Medicaid system may change this. Introduced this month, Medicaid program BadgerCare Plus may be extended in July to cover married or single adults who do not have children.

A hospital assessment program unveiled by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services would fund the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan for Childless Adults.

Under the proposal, federal revenue brought into Wisconsin increase by $300 million each year, allowing young adults who were previously unable to afford insurance to be covered.

“There are still a huge number of people without health insurance in Wisconsin, and people without dependent children don’t have many options,” LaRowe said. “The young adult population is one of the largest groups in this situation and it keeps growing as students’ parents lose their jobs and insurance coverage.”

UW senior Megan Britson said she is unsure what she will do for health insurance once she graduates in May, but BadgerCare may be of interest.

“I don’t know what I would do because I’m not covered under my parents anymore,” LaRowe said. “I know that it is really important to have health insurance all the time. It can come back to haunt you when you’re older if you don’t at some time.”

She hopes to find a job that will provide health insurance, but knows it can be difficult.

“I work at a retail store, and I know so many people who don’t get paid a lot and don’t have health insurance. I just hope I don’t find myself in that situation,” Britson said. “If I’m not covered under my job, I’ll be on my own.”

LaRowe, who graduated from UW in 2008, found herself battling a health problem without insurance.

“Spring ‘07, I got really sick and I had to drop out of school and get treatment for it,” LaRowe said. “I had several thousands of dollars in bills. I couldn’t pay it by the end of it.”

Because she was no longer a student, her insurance company refused to cover her and she was forced to seek help through social security Medicaid.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with is making a medical decision on a purely financial basis. If you don’t have money, you often can’t afford [insurance] when you’re in need,” LaRowe said. “It’s a really great program, and I’m glad that so many students and people graduating soon are going to have this option.”