Health Insurance Articles
Wisconsin Suspends Enrollment For Badgercare Plus Plan
2009-10-16
Due to an overwhelming need for access to affordable Wisconsin health insurance plan, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services will no longer be able to accept applications from those wanting to participate in the BadgerCare Plus program, designed to replace the troubled Milwaukee-based General Assistance Medical Program with low cost Wisconsin health insurance. This went into effect at noon on Friday, Oct. 9.
The BadgerCare Plus program began accepting applications on June 15. Since then they have received a staggering 500 to 600 applications a day. State officials thought the plan had enough funding to expand health care coverage to Wisconsin residents with income levels at or below 200 to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, anticipating only 40,000 Wisconsinites would apply for the popular state health insurance within the first two years. According to the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, more than 37,000 applications were received in less than two months. The state continues to process tens of thousands of additional applications. As unemployment numbers in Wisconsin continue to climb, the end of the applications is not in sight.
The health plan was designed to provide basic health care services, such as primary and preventive health care. BadgerCare Plus also offers limited benefits for generic drugs. However, there are not enough budgeted funds to provide for such overwhelming participation. More than half of the $215 million budgeted for the first two years of the plan is coming from the federal government. The budget is capped and the state can't spend more than $154 million in the first year of the program. The budget was based on a projected number of 81,000 eligible individuals over the life of the program. Unfortunately BadgerCare Plus is not sustainable since the plan grossly underestimates the heavy demand.
Residents who apply after the Oct. 9 deadline will be added to a waiting list that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle expects will quickly rise to 20,000. He promises that all applicants who are found to be eligible, and pay the enrollment fee of $60 within the required 30 days, will be accepted into the program even if the number exceeds the cap of 54,000. In the meantime the governor is urging his aides to come up with a basic insurance plan to cover those on the waiting list. He hopes that such a plan would not come at a cost to taxpayers; rather it would be funded by low premiums paid by participants.
During a news conference on Monday, Doyle called for action by Congress to pass national health care reform. "I believe we must make sure that people have health insurance," he said. "We have done everything we can in Wisconsin. We have stretched all boundaries and still there are people falling through the cracks."
