Fifty Wisconsin organizations sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius late last week urging her to deny the recent request from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) for a waiver of federal maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements. As WCCF explained in a short summary of the DHS proposals, the proposed waiver is...
Just as Wisconsin was submitting proposals to federal officials to significantly increase BadgerCare premiums and copays, a new study added to the evidence that increased cost-sharing can be counterproductive. The study published in the November 14 New England Journal of Medicine examined the effects of drug copays for patients who have...
The recession has significantly increased poverty and unemployment, and with those changes there has been a large increase in adults without health insurance. Yet despite those trends, the number of uninsured children in the U.S. dropped by 1 million from 2008 to 2010 (from 6.9 million to 5.9 million), according to a report released...
Well, no, not exactly. But the Republican controlled House of Representatives did bring a whole new meaning to the phrase “you say tomato…” As we’re sitting down with family and friends this week, we are thankful for so much – including a delicious Thanksgiving meal. For many in Wisconsin, meals that are both healthy and filling are far...
When we give thanks on Thursday, let’s remember that there are many public programs providing critically important assistance to people who aren’t as fortunate. Among them are a number of government programs that are working as intended to keep low-wage Americans and unemployed workers out of poverty. Unfortunately, some of those...
Earlier this month the Census Bureau released a new way of measuring poverty: the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). This measure revealed higher rates of poverty nationally for most groups, but a lower rate for children. The Census Bureau also released an analysis of those with incomes slightly above the poverty line which illustrates...
The US Census Bureau released a report late last week regarding the number and percentage of households in each state who received food stamps in 2009 and 2010. Wisconsin’s participation rate of 11.0 percent last year was well below the national rate of 11.9 percent. However, Wisconsin has been rapidly gaining ground on the national...
An editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sunday urges federal officials to deny Wisconsin’s current request for a “maintenance of effort” waiver that would result in more than 64,000 people losing their BadgerCare coverage:We urge the federal Department of Health and Human Services to hold off on that waiver until the state does...
Case might pivot on studies relating to state costs and savings Is it unconstitutional for Congress to enact a law expanding Medicaid coverage to everyone below 133% of the federal poverty level? About half the states (via their Attorneys General or Governors) contend that making them participate in a large expansion of Medicaid, which...
We’ve reported a couple of times this fall on a bill that would have put several important health care consumer protections from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into state law. The bill, AB 210, has had strong backing from the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) and from insurance companies who have been worried about potential...
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