Wisconsin Health Insurance
Wisconsin’s health status
Wisconsin was ranked as the 17th healthiest state in the country this year, according to the United Health Foundation. Wisconsin is still in a good position, below the national average, but it slipped five positions as compared to last year’s 12th spot. This basically means that over the past year, health in Wisconsin has deteriorated slightly. Some of the possible reasons of the fall are the increase in the levels of air pollution within the past year, from 12.4 to 13.3 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter. The percentage of children living in poverty and the violent crime rate have also increased within the past year, which means that in the past 12 months, things have become slightly more difficult for many residents in the state.
Other important challenges the state faces are the high geographic disparity within the state at 12.7 percent, a high prevalence of binge drinking at 23.8 percent of the population (it’s not the worst in the country as it was last year, but it’s still the second worst), and a high prevalence of obesity at 25.3 percent of the population being obese. Public Health funding has always been an important key factor for this state: Wisconsin has the second lowest public health funding per capita in the nation. Barely $34 per person are invested in health by the government. With a mere increase of $3 in the past year (when public health funding was $31 per person, the worst number in the country), it’s hard to offer an adequate health care service to the residents.
Despite the low funding, the state still has one of the fewest percentages of residents lacking Health Insurance Coverage (merely 8.5%, a decrease from last year’s and the third lowest number in the nation), which means that despite all, Health is still highly accessible in Wisconsin. The primary care physicians rate is also high, and the preventable hospitalizations are below the national average, which are also good news for the residents of this state. Despite not having enough funding, Wisconsin has managed to offer highly accessible, and effective health care. One of the only issues with Health Care in this state is the abysmal drop in the percentage of complete immunizations within children 19-35 months old. From being the second highest percentage in the nation, Wisconsin fell down 7.4%, and 29 positions in the rank. Clearly there is something going on with this issue that must be revised as soon as possible, to stop this fall.
Despite losing some health this past year, Wisconsin is still a good and healthy place to live, below the national average, and despite the poor funding for this state when it comes to health, they seem to make the most out of it, offering highly accessible and efficient health care for its residents.
Wisconsin health insurance information
Despite having the second lowest public health funding in the nation, Wisconsin still manages to have an excellent accessibility, with an extremely high percentage of residents with Health Insurance coverage. 91.5% of the Wisconsin residents have health insurance, and only 8.5% of residents lack it, which shows the great accessibility the state offers. Public Health funding and primary health care are used as they should, which is shown by the efficiency of the health system. The percentage of employers offering Health Insurance to employees is good, with 59.3% percent of employers offering health Insurance plans, and this percentage has been increasing since 2003. About 79% of workers take the Health Insurance plans offered by their employers, the highest percentage in the nation.
Wisconsin, despite its low funding, has worked things out and still manages to have a high rate of primary care physicians for the population, with over 119.5 physicians per 100,000 population. The low number of preventable hospitalizations show the high efficiency of the system as well. The percentage of the Wisconsin population that could get medical care when needed is good, at 92.3%. The patients served by FQHCs as a percent of population under 200% FPL stands at 10.6%.
If coverage has been denied for you, there are still some options you can check:
Best health plans in Wisconsin
The prestigious US News ranks yearly the best Health Plans in the country, polling and evaluating consumer assessment, prevention, and treatment offered by all plans. They gather information and rank the results, nation-wide and state-wide, showing on their results the best plans available for Wisconsin as well. The Rankings reflect results of consumer surveys and success in preventing and treating illness compared with average health plan.
Not only they rank Commercial Plans, they also rank Medicare or Medicaid plans, covering and evaluating as many plans as possible. If you want to browse their list of best-of, please go to the US News Health Plans Search site.
Get involved
If you are concerned about Wisconsin’s health care issues and want to speak out, your safest bet is to contact your federal official, either via phone or fax. Postal Mail is not recommended, since it takes too long, and e-mail might not be seen. Also, make sure you communicate with the right Member of the Senate and/or Congress.
If you want more guidance and tips on how to contact and communicate with your representatives, there are various sites on the internet that can help on how to contact your elected officials.
 |  | |
| Contact the White House PHONE: toll free 1-800-671-7887 (ask for the Comment Line) State officials:
Official West Virginia health insurance information
| Recent West Virginia health insurance newsHealth Insurance is always a hot topic for discussion, since it involves the citizens of West Virginia and their welfare. Here are some of the latest news and updates on the current issues and news related to Health and Health Insurance for West Virginia: |
Next Step
 |
 |
 |
