Core Plan Enrollment Plummets!

As the Wait List Skyrockets to over 128,000 People

After peaking in January of 2010 at 65,265 members, March 2012 enrollment in the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan for childless adults sank to the lowest point yet--just 26,808. But despite the program's plummeting enrollment numbers, the Department of Health Services (DHS) has yet to open the program to new enrollees. The Wait List, which recently topped 128,706 childless adults, includes about 30% of Wisconsin's uninsured adults (based on Kaiser's most recent State Health Facts). According to the DHS Core Plan website, individuals on the Waiting List "will be able to enroll in the Core Plan as space becomes available." When DHS established the Core Plan Wait List in October 2009, there were approximately 46,000 childless adults enrolled in the program: How much more space does DHS need to start enrolling people in the Core Plan again?

Click here or on the chart below for Core Plan enrollment data!
Regular HealthWatch Wisconsin Update readers are familiar with our Wait List counter (see below), a recurring feature that has tracked the growth of the Core Plan Wait List since September 2011. In the seven months since the counter's debut, more than 20,000 people were added to the Wait List, an increase of approximately 20%. Remember, that's 20% even after more than two years passed in which the program took no new enrollees!*
(*Except for those with cancer who were able to take advantage of the Wait List Cancer Bypass from July 2010-March 2011, and those with chronic health conditions who were able to take advantage of a more robust Wait List Bypass from December 15, 2010-March 2011, before DHS discontinued the Bypass option altogether in March 2011, while also freezing the Basic Plan enrollment.)
CORE PLAN STORIES: Do you have a story about the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan? Were you or a client dropped from the program? Do you know people stuck on the Waiting List, uninsured and unrepresented? Please contact HealthWatch Wisconsin with your Core Plan Stories!