Wisconsin has received a federal grant of nearly $10 million per year that will be used to cover more adults without dependent children in the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan. The grant, which apparently will last for 5 years, buys the state a little bit of time before DHS needs to institute a waiting list for the Core Plan coverage. From...
This month, the US Census Bureau will be releasing key poverty information from two different data sets, the Current Population Survey (CPS, to be released this Thursday, 9/10) and the American Community Survey (ACS, coming on 9/23). WCCF and a zillion other organizations will be examining the data upon its release and seeking to tell...
"The face of America is changing. The number of Latino youth in this country has almost doubled in the last decade, and on any given day close to 18,000 Latino youth are incarcerated in America." Thus begins the foreword for a recent publication by the Campaign for Youth Justice titled "America's Invisible Children: Latino youth and the...
While the relative "value" of Youth Aids funding has declined over the years and the permutations of the Youth Aids formula has not necessarily kept up with local needs, the Youth Aids concept continues to be among the most creative approaches to juvenile justice funding in the nation. As states attempt to provide incentives to...
Economists generally agree that the most effective form of stimulus spending during an economic downturn is to get funding into the hands of people who most need assistance and will quickly use the dollars in their community. (See, for example, p. 10 of the Congressional testimony by Mark Zandi, the chief economist and cofounder of...
WCCF has published a special edition of our Wiskids Journal newsletter recapping what went down in the state budget process. This issue analyzes the 2009-11 state budget passed in July. Articles focus on how the gaping hole was closed (hint: federal stimulus funds and some carefully targeted state revenue uppers helped a lot), what the...
An article in today's Wisconsin State Journal notes that enrollment in the new program for childless adults within BadgerCare Plus is exceeding the state's projections. The article states that DHS Secretary Karen Timberlake has indicated that they may have to turn to waiting lists in order to keep the program on budget. According to the...
The recession has forced more than 7 million people out of jobs, and millions more are now under-employed. Many of those workers and their families have lost their health insurance, and others who still work full time have also seen their health care benefits eliminated or cut back. In May and June of this year, the Kaiser Family...
A top priority of President Obama and Congress this year was extending and improving the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). That legislation was approved in early February, and the President promptly signed the CHIP Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA).The new law gives states increased funding and new policy options that should enable...
Survey data released by Gallup yesterday highlight the importance of health care reform. Gallup reported an increase in the number of uninsured adults nationwide from 14.8% in 2008 to 16.2% in the first six months of 2009.According to the Gallup figures, Wisconsin is still doing considerably better than the national average, but not as...
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