Revised Waiver Makes One Improvement, but Contains Harmful Changes to Transitional MedicaidOn Friday, August 9, the Department of Health Services (DHS) submitted a request to the Obama Administration for a waiver to implement the changes to BadgerCare prescribed by the recently enacted budget bill. The DHS request, which is amended only...

Initial OIC Release Lacks Info on Rates and Coverage AreasWisconsin got some good news relating to health care reform today when the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) released a list of insurance companies that plan to participate in the new insurance Marketplace created by the federal health care reform law. A broad field of...

County Board Resistance Shortchanges More than 1,200 Adults Losing Their BadgerCare CoverageThe Barron County Board was unable to muster enough votes last week to accept funding for two new positions to help people sign up for coverage under the health care reform law.  It appears to be the only county to balk at accepting the state and...

Ruling May Set Important Precedent, but Appears to Be Too Late to Affect BadgerCarePeople on the BadgerCare Plus Core waiting list won a preliminary legal victory last week when a federal court allowed their lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to proceed. The ruling could be an important precedent, but it’s...

One of the successes of the federal health care reform law is highlighted by new survey data released on Friday (July 19). The new Gallup data indicates a decline of almost one fifth over the last several years in the number of young adults who are uninsured, thanks to the provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) allowing young adults...