October 20, 2009: SHARE is releasing a brief today titled "Wisconsin's BadgerCare Plus Coverage Expansion and Simplification: Early Data on Program Impact." The brief is authored by the SHARE-sponsored research team led by grantees Tom Oliver and Tom DeLeire and examines the success of Wisconsin's BadgerCare Plus, a health care reform initiative enacted in 2008.
BadgerCare Plus expanded public insurance coverage access to all Wisconsin children, enhanced coverage for parents and other adults, and promoted take-up of employer-sponsored insurance. In addition, the plan dramatically simplified eligibility rules for public insurance, creating a nearly seamless program across the coverage spectrum.
This brief presents preliminary data indicating that the percentage of Wisconsin children enrolled in the state's health program increased 12% relative to the number of children enrolled at the baseline. For caretaker adults, there was an 18% increase in enrollment. More importantly, due to program simplification, there appears to be a leveling-off in program exits and a modest decrease in six-month churning. The success of this program is attributed to the following:
- Concerted branding message ("all kids eligible")
- Whole family coverage through expanded eligibility for lower-income parents and caretakers
- Targeted auto-enrollment
- Expansion of income eligibility limits, with various coverage opportunities as income and employment fluctuates
- Relaxing of anti-crowd-out provisions for lower income applicants
- Relieving applicants of employer insurance verification requirements
- Aggressive outreach and enrollment strategies carried out in collaboration with community partners
Click here to open a PDF of the Wisconsin issue brief.
Forthcoming research from the SHARE team at the University of Wisconsin will reveal findings about Wisconsin's Core Plan, a coverage option for low-income childless adults. It is expected that these findings will reveal successes similar to those seen with BadgerCare Plus. However, Wisconsin's Core Plan recently hit a major roadblock: Last week, just three months after the Core Plan was implemented, enrollment was suspended because the program hit its budget cap. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle responded to this news with the following comment, "I can think of no clearer demonstration of the need for national health care reform. Despite the tremendous work we have done here in Wisconsin, BadgerCare Plus, and state plans like it, are merely bridges to get us to national health reform."