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Health Care
Health care is a critically important service for all children and families in Wisconsin, and a vital part of our work at WCCF. The Council seeks to ensure that all Wisconsin residents, and especially our children, have health insurance and access to high quality, affordable health care services.
Research shows that insured children are healthier, make less use of expensive emergency room services, do better in school, and have higher earnings later in life. Insurance for kids benefits the children, their families, and the rest of us – by giving our state a healthier future workforce and by shifting the focus of health care spending to prevention, rather than treatment of avoidable ailments. It also reduces the shifting of the costs of uncompensated care to others.
Recent News
 Overlooked Budget Measures Could Cause at Least 29,000 Children to Lose BadgerCare Coverage. The budget bill resurrects proposals that could cause more than 29,000 children to lose their BadgerCare coverage, and could impede administration of the health care reform initiatives that take effect in 2014 by creating inconsistent definitions of income for purposes of state and federal law . Also, see related WCCF press release (May 7, 2013).
Using the Affordable Care Act to Close the Gap in BadgerCare
This two-pager overviews the opportunity in the Affordable Care Act to provide health insurance coverage to low-income Wisconsinites without dependent children. We outline the number of Wisconsinites expected to benefit, as well as the top ten reasons to take advantage of this federal funding. Please share this short policy brief widely (Januray 15, 2013).
Top 10 Reasons to Use the Affordable Care Act to Fill the Gap in BadgerCare. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) gives Wisconsin an exciting opportunity to improve access to health care by filling a large gap in BadgerCare coverage. Here are ten of the many reasons why Wisconsin should use this option, which would make BadgerCare available to childless adults and to parents who aren’t the primary custodian of a dependent child (Revised January 10, 2013).
Top Ten Ways Wisconsin Families Are Already Benefiting from the Affordable Care Act. This one-pager summarizes a series of blog posts, highlighting ten of the many ways health care reform is already helping Wisconsin families. Please print copies and distribute this resource widely (JUne 27, 2012).
Resources and Links to Analyses Regarding Proposed and Approved BadgerCare and Medicaid Cuts. WCCF and the Save BadgerCare Coalition have summarized the DHS proposals to cut Medicaid and BadgerCare, and the likely consequences.
Q & A Summary of the Upcoming Changes to BadgerCare. The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has approved a portion of the cost-cutting changes that the Walker Administration has been seeking to make to BadgerCare. This document answers some of the basic questions about those changes, such as who will be affected, how, and when (May 7, 2012).
Options for Closing the Shrinking Medicaid Deficit. This Wisconsin Budge Project paper examines the latest estimates of the size of the Medicaid deficit and options for eliminating that shortfall (May 4, 2012).
Inconsistencies Between the BadgerCare Changes and the Affordable Care Act.
Governor Walker and DHS officials have frequently argued that all of the cost-cutting changes they were seeking to make to BadgerCare are consistent with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and provide a test of measures that will take effect nationwide in 2014. Although the changes recently approved by HHS are legally permissible, they are nonetheless inconsistent with the federal law in a number of important details and in the general intent. This short paper overviews the approved changes, and how they differ from the ACA (April 30, 2012). |
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An Overview of Major Health-related Bills in the 2011-2012 Legislative Session. This four-page document provides a summary of the major bills related to health and health care that were considered by the Wisconsin legislature during the 2011-12 session, which came to a close in March 2012. It includes links to bill text and history, and notes which bills were signed into law by the Governor (April 4, 2012).
On the Record with Jon Peacock. Tim Stumm, editor of the Wisconsin Health News, recently interviewed Jon Peacock, WCCF’s research director, regarding the proposed changes to BadgerCare, the bill lifting the Family Care cap, and the Governor’s decision not to implement health care exchanges. (Wisconsin Health News is an independent, nonpartisan online news service. For a free two-week trial contact Tim Stumm at tstumm@wisconsinhealthnews.com).
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The Future of BadgerCare. On February 16th, Covering Kids and Families (CKF) hosted a webinar featuring DHS Secretary Dennis Smith and WCCF Research Director Jon Peacock. You can find it on the CKF website or access it directly at http://bit.ly/zAIgww.
BadgerCare Plus Resource Page. We have created a webpage that pulls together WCCF documents about BadgerCare Plus and links to other resources for potential participants in the program, as well as for advocates and policymakers.
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 Project Goals
Provide access to health insurance of all Wisconsin residents, starting with our children.
Ensure that people with health insurance coverage are able to access high quality, and culturally appropriate health care services, including dental and mental health care.
Eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care outcomes in Wisconsin.
Project Staff
Jon Peacock: Research Director contact
Sara Eskrich: Health Care Policy Analyst contact
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