BadgerCare Plus to suspend some enrollments

[postulater]

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


The state will suspend enrolling childless adults starting Friday in the BadgerCare Plus plan, Gov. Jim Doyle announced Monday.

People who apply after noon Friday will be put on a waiting list that could quickly rise to 20,000 people, Doyle said at St. Mary's Hospital.

The state expanded its BadgerCare Plus plan to adults who do not have children on June 15. Since then, the program has received 500 to 600 applications a day.

The program will cost $215 million over two years. To ensure it does not exceed that amount, it cannot serve more than about 54,000 people, state officials said.

Today, about 33,000 people are enrolled in the program, and the Department of Health Services is processing tens of thousands of additional applications.



Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/63529162.html

[joeycola]

1. The burden was shifted to the states and they are stuggling now.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. "BadgerCare"? For real?

There's nothing that conjures visions of nurturing than the badger.

[tomm2thumbs]

3. time to quickly adopt - for the sake of getting BadgerCare

props are important and you need to getchoo one.

sad for the childless couple who are in desperate need while parents are automatically approved by nature of their status. The child getting approved is a no-brainer but would be nice to base this on actual need.

[Pharlo]

4. Actually, I think you've got something there.

Automatically approve children, but put all adults on a waiting list regardless of parental status and make adult enrollment based upon need. Really, the most fair way to do it.

[CTyankee]

5. Dear god, the awful predicaments we put ourselves in ALL because we

don'thave single payer, universal health care like every civilized nation on this planet. What a sad choice for poor Gov. Doyle to have to make. Now he'll have new enemies he might never had had before. It's so damn sad for people in Wisconsin. I hope they get really worked up over it and demand change at the federal level! There are some great Dems in WI.

[undeterred]

6. Wisconsin is doing it right.

BadgerCare is Medicaid, and they've found a way to get as many people covered as money allows. They also have a program called SeniorCare, which helps senior citizens with the gaps for prescriptions in their Medicare coverage.

Unfortunately I am one of the 9% of people in Wisconsin with no coverage. You have to have a really low income for a year to qualify.

Patch it a little here and a little there, but there are still big holes in the system.

[bobthedrummer]

7. We can thank the heartless Tommy Thompson crew for sucking so hard to maintain the holes

That's the context of PRIVATIZATION-the legacy of Tommy the man who sold the word Thompson....

[undeterred]

8. U.S. Sen. Feingold: Fights unfair Medicaid burdens on Wisconsin in health care bill

Wisconsin Would Be Disproportionately Burdened Under Senate Finance Bill For Being Leaders In Expanding Coverage Of Low-Income Americans

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is leading an effort to ensure states like Wisconsin that have taken the initiative to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income Americans are treated fairly under health care reform. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Feingold and eight other senators are calling for an expansion of Medicaid that does not place added burdens on “early leader” Medicaid states and that sets a fair reimbursement rate for these same states going forward. The current legislation being considered by the Senate Finance Committee will require Wisconsin to meet new Medicaid coverage requirements for its BadgerCare program while receiving less financial assistance to come into compliance with the new Medicaid benefits.

“I am proud Wisconsin has taken the initiative to expand Medicaid coverage for those who need it most in our state, but we should not be punished for doing the right thing,” Feingold said. “The Senate Finance Committee bill would burden states like Wisconsin that have led in expanding Medicaid at a time when we simply cannot afford more financial hardships.”

Feingold was joined by Senators Kohl, Klobuchar, Leahy, Bayh, Franken, Sanders, Gillibrand, and Akaka. Feingold and the other senators expressed their support for the work of Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John Kerry (D-MA), who have offered amendments in the Finance Committee to address these concerns.

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=172742