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.