By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2010-02-03 10:09:22 | Word Count: 543
Gov. Jim Doyle on Jan. 21 announced a new self-funded health care plan for adults without dependent children who are on the state health care waiting list.
BadgerCare Plus Basic will provide enrollees with limited access to physicians, hospital services, generic prescriptions and catastrophic coverage, and will be paid for entirely through a monthly premium of $130, the governor’s office said in a news release.
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The Basic plan is not designed to be a long term health coverage plan, but instead will be a bridge plan to keep individuals healthy while they wait for space in the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan, the news release said.
“With BadgerCare Plus, we’ve made Wisconsin America’s health care leader,” Doyle is quoted as saying. “Because of BadgerCare, we’ve been able to help people get through this very difficult period without facing serious health consequences or financial ruin. Badger Care Basic will provide access to care for those waiting for a spot in the Core Plan, so they can get care when they are sick and don’t go bankrupt in the process.”
More than 64,000 individuals have enrolled in the state's BadgerCare Plus Core Plan, which suspended new enrollments in mid-October due to budget limits.
Since that time, more than 20,000 individuals have been put on a waiting list for the program.
According to data compiled by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Wisconsin ranked fourth in the nation in the precentage of its residents who have health insurance in 2007-08.
The foundation reported that 10.2 percent of Wisconsin's residents lacked insurance. Only Massachusetts, Hawaii and Minnesota had a smaller percentage of residents without health insurance. Massachusetts had the smallest percentage of uninsured at 6.1 percent.
The BadgerCare Plus Core Plan provides standard health benefits for low income adults without dependent children.
Doyle’s office reported that for a monthly premium of $130, plus “reasonable” co-pays, a BadgerCare Plus Basic member will have access to catastrophic coverage plus:
# Up to 10 physician visits each year;
# Limited hospitalization;
# Coverage for first inpatient hospital stay and five outpatient hospital visits;
# Subsequent stays after $7,500 deductible;
# Up to five emergency room visits each year;
# Some generic medications; and
# Badger Rx Gold discount drug membership.
“This will not be a Cadillac health plan,” Doyle was quoted as saying. “In fact, it will be just what the name suggests – it will be basic. But basic coverage can be the difference between a treatable condition and a trip to the emergency room. And basic coverage can be the difference between having protection while you try and get your feet back on the ground and going bankrupt trying to pay for medical care.”
To be eligible for coverage, individuals must have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, have no dependent children, and be included on the waiting list for the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan.
