Officials expressed both continuing support and concern about perceived abuse of the BadgerCare health insurance program at a forum Tuesday hosted by the University of Wisconsin College Republicans.

Terri Courtney, a panelist and an employee benefits specialist at the Wisconsin Association of Health Underwriters, said BadgerCare started as a program to give health benefits to children without insurance and has since grown to include all children, regardless of their parents’ income.

Courtney said she sees this transformation as a disadvantage of the program because people who already have health insurance are using the program simply to save money.

“I would challenge the state of Wisconsin to interview people already in the program … who have health insurance coverage available to them [through an employer],” Courtney said.

On the other hand, Jon Sender, a UW Health spokesperson, said the BadgerCare program exhibits the great values present in the state of Wisconsin in that they are trying to help children.

Another issue discussed was the current health care reform recently passed by the House of Representatives and the impact it would have on the rationing of health care in the United States.

Sender said the rationing is something occurring already and will only get worse if spending is not reined in now.

“We have to find a way to cut spending,” he said. “Right now we just spend and spend and spend.”

While neither panelist and UW history professor John Sharpless nor Sender felt capable of saying whether or not quality of health care would decrease as a result of the plan, Sender said the quality of health care in Wisconsin is high despite having a “screwed up system.”

Sender pointed to his experience in Washington, D.C., and said the key to lowering costs is doing so in a way that still attracts people to the medical industry.

An agreement was reached among the panelists as to whether the health care reforms will affect President Barack Obama’s image while he is still in office.

All three felt Obama would be out of office by the time his reforms impact citizens.

Sender said he believes the biggest risks for Democrats are the expectations of the American people and a gap between those expectations and reality.

He added he believes health care reform will take a backseat in the next election to the economy, particularly to the job market.

The right to health insurance was also brought up, which Courtney said needs to be distinguished from access to affordable health care.

Sharpless added he believes people do not understand if insurance companies are forced to insure everyone, low-risk people will be forced to buy insurance regardless of whether they want it.

“One thing I can’t figure out in people’s minds is how people think they deserve to get coverage even if they don’t need it,” he said.

The example the panelists mentioned was a student under 25 just off his or her parents’ insurance who would not normally buy health insurance, but under the plan would be forced to.