It Lives: Yes, BadgerCare+ Express Enrollment Still Exists

At times Express Enrollment can seem a little like an urban legend or the Yeti that people swear they’ve seen yet have little evidence to pinpoint it’s whereabouts.

But CKF knows it exists, and even more, know its value. Since early 2008 when Express Enrollment for BadgerCare+ began, we’ve continued to work to boost the number of locally accessible sites – primarily schools – where Express Enrollment can occur.

If you are unfamiliar with Express Enrollment, it is a quick but very temporary enrollment process for certain categories of low-income children. The full BadgerCare+ application requires some time to fill out and may take a month to be fully processed. And so Express Enrollment is meant in part to fill in that time gap. Particularly for low-income children in need of prompt medical attention, Express Enrollment means the opportunity to get rapid coverage to pay for that care, thereby encouraging the needed doctor’s visit or prescription drug.

Unlike a full BadgerCare+ application, the Express Enrollment process is not completed by the applicant family. Instead, it must be completed by persons or organizations that have gone through the process to register with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. (I should note here that Express Enrollment is also an option for pregnant women but only certified medical providers may assist.)

In terms of eligibility, the upper income limit ranges from 150% to 300% of the poverty level depending on the child’s age. The child must also be a US citizen. And most importantly, a full application should always follow on the heels of Express Enrollment since the temporary coverage only lasts at most for 2 months and can not be done more than once in a year.

Schools often like to take advantage of the opportunity to become certified to offer Express Enrollment. Assisting with a full BadgerCare+ application may not be something a school staff person has the capacity to offer. However, the speed and immediacy of Express Enrollment can make it a more reasonable way to assist. A full application can then be completed by the applicant or with help from a community organization.

CKF has recently updated our Express Enrollment training slides, “Express Enrollment for Children.” The slides give an overview of the basics of Express Enrollment as well as detail the process for becoming a certified provider. The presentation can also be found on our BadgerCare+ training page.

Celebrate National Women’s Health Week!

National Women’s Health Week is celebrated May 12^th through 18^th.  The Office of Women’s Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, encourages women across the country to improve their health by: visiting their primary health care provider to get preventive screenings, engaging in regular exercise, eating healthily, managing stress, getting enough sleep and avoiding unhealthy behaviors like smoking.

To jump start the week, on Saturday, May 11th, Milwaukee Health Services is hosting a women’s health fair at MLK Heritage Health Center from 9:30am-2:00pm at 2555 N. Dr. MLK Jr. Drive in Milwaukee.

The fair will include workshop sessions on various health topics and give women access to an array of preventive health services and screenings.  Find information at: http://www.womenshealth.gov/nwhw/.

May 13^th is National Women’s Checkup day.  Remind your female friends and family members to schedule an appointment with their primary care doctor to get those preventive screenings.
Let’s also take this week to remember that close to 8 % of women in Wisconsin remain uninsured and lack access to consistent quality health care coverage and services. If you know someone who is uninsured, you may be able to help her:

1.)    Refer her to www.access.wi.gov to apply for BadgerCare+ (Wisconsin’s public health insurance program.)   Uninsured parents with children under age 19 may be eligible for BadgerCare+ based on their income. Pregnant women may also be eligible for BadgerCare+ for care during the pregnancy.

2.) Refer her to the Wisconsin Well Women Program which provides preventive health screenings to uninsured women ages 45-64 that meet the program’s income guidelines.  Call 1-608-266-8311 for information on applying.

3.)    Encourage her to visit a local Federally Qualified Health Center: Federally qualified health centers, like MLK Heritage Center mentioned above, provide their community members with health care services on a sliding scale basis.  For a list of health centers in your area, visit: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/forwardhealth/pdf/fqhc.pdf.

If you know of other events/activities in your area for Women’s Health Week please let us know. We will pass on the information on this blog, on Facebook and to our coalition members!

It Feels Like Conference Season (Spring, not so much)…

Covering Kids & Families staff have been on the road this April with conferences, trainings and meetings talking about the Affordable Care Act and BadgerCare+.

Earlier this month, Caroline Gomez presented at the Health Literacy Wisconsin Summit, Changing System, Changing Lives as a panelist with Dr. Bonnie Braun of the University of Maryland Extension. Caroline talked about the partnership Covering Kids & Families and UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension have to develop materials on the Affordable Care Act and how organizations can work together with their local partners to tell people about the health care reform law as it is implemented in Wisconsin.

To follow the Health Literacy presentation, one week later, Caroline co-presented a session on the Affordable Care Act with Family Living Agents Jackie Carattini (Marathon County) and Kathy Eisenmann (Jefferson County) at the Wisconsin Joint Council of Extension Professionals Conference in Wisconsin Dells, WI. She shared some resources that the participants could share in their communities and how they could stay involved as different pieces of the health reform law develop.

Yesterday, Jean Nothnagel will be presenting to a group of Wisconsin school nurses at the Wisconsin Association of School Nurse Conference here in Madison, WI. Her presentation will talk about eligibility and resources related to BadgerCare+ and an overview on the Affordable Care Act. Covering Kids & Families has participated at this conference for several years and find it a great way to connect to the school nurses working directly with children and families who may need insurance and access to care.

Along with all the presentations, CKF staff have participated in several other conferences, meetings or summits this month. Here is the list of some other places CKF has been in the month of April:

• UW Day at the Capitol
• Wisconsin Health Education Network meeting
• UW Population Health Symposium: What’s Next For the Affordable Care Act 

 

Celebrating National Public Health Week at CKF

April 1^st through 7^th is National Public Health Week. This year’s theme is “Public Health is ROI: Saves Lives, Saves Money”.  In celebration of this week, we wanted to highlight how the work that we do here at Covering Kids and Families (CKF) embodies public health.  Instead of focusing on the health of individual people, which is indeed important, a public health perspective provides a broader scope for looking at health.   At Covering Kids and Families, our focus is to look at how we can make an impact on a community or population of people, thus improving the health outcomes at the group, community or state level.

Two of our current school-based outreach projects are the REACH BadgerCare+ project and the Direct Certification project.  REACH BC+ project staff work to create relationships within schools so that they can serve as more effective resources to support family enrollment in BadgerCare+, Wisconsin’s public health insurance program.  By increasing knowledge about BadgerCare+ eligibility and enrollment, and by encouraging school staff to proactively promote BadgerCare+, CKF aims to support public schools in enabling eligible kids and families to take advantage of this public health insurance program so they have access to healthcare whenever needed.

Direct Certification staff, on the other hand, are working with schools to increase their capacity to consistently run the federally-required direct certification (DC) process.  Direct Certification electronically matches student enrollment lists with a state database of families that receive FoodShare or W-2 benefits.  Students who are living in households that receive FoodShare or W-2 benefits are automatically eligible to receive free meals at school.  This electronic matching process reduces the amount of paperwork that would be required of both families and school staff, and also ensures that eligible children are getting the free, nutritious meals at school that they deserve.

The strength of a community is intimately tied to its health. Children who are healthy do better in school and healthy adults are more able to contribute to the local economy and engage in community activities. Both of our projects take a big picture approach when it comes to promoting the health of Wisconsin children and families. The CKF goal is to improve the health of children and families by ensuring they have easy-to-access, trusted and efficient mechanisms to learn about, enroll in, and use health-supporting programs for which they are eligible.

Please join us in celebrating Public Health Week and the CKF mission to reduce health disparities and improve overall health in Wisconsin!

March is Medicaid Matters for Kids* month

The list of organizations and agencies working nationwide to help support schools as resources for families to enroll in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) continues to grow.

The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) has been engaged as a federal grant recipient in a project to “increase school district capacity to systemically incorporate child health outreach and insurance enrollment into routine school district operations” and “to identify uninsured children in districts and link eligible students with CHIP and Medicaid during the 2012-13 school year and beyond.”  http://www.aasa.org/Childrensinsurance.aspx

Their grant does not specifically address Wisconsin kids or the BadgerCare+ program (CHIP in WI) but the CKF grants in CESA 3, 8 and 1 have certainly connected with district administrators and their staff on this, one of our favorite subjects, helping schools help families get covered! Wisconsin families enroll online at https://access.wisconsin.gov/ or find a telephone number in their region to call at http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/forwardhealth/imagency/consortia.htm

The AASA webpage also provides links to resources from the Children’s Hospital Association http://www.childrenshospitals.net promoting March as Medicaid Matters for Kids* month. Their materials support important data that we know is true in Wisconsin, such as; “although children represent half of all Medicaid enrollees, they account for only 25 percent of Medicaid spending” (more is spent  for older adults and disabled individuals) and more than 60% of children enrolled in BadgerCare+ live in homes where at least one person is working.  Many employers do not include access to health insurance, but all kids who are citizens or who are documented immigrants are eligible for BadgerCare+ in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin resources from CKF are as close as a click http://www.ckfwi.org/toolbox.html, a call 608-261-1455 or an e-mail to info@ckfwi.org  to add to the AASA resources and information.

New decade, new logo

CKF’s new logo debuted on our 10th anniversary cake.

Covering Kids & Families recently celebrated our accomplishments throughout the past 10 years. As we prepare for the next 10 years, we are moving forward with a redesigned logo!

The new look can be seen on our blog, website, and Facebook pages, and is making its way to our handouts, business cards, and other printed materials. Our goal was to create a logo in which the text portrays the emphasis of our work, the font is welcoming, and it can be easily inserted into our various forms of communication. We also made sure it is distinguishable from logos of our partner organizations and maintained the block icon that has been a prominent shape on our website.

Here’s to the next 10 years!

Jeni

Welcome new Direct Certification Outreach Specialist, Abby Leonhart

As you may have seen a few posts back, CKF was searching to fill a position on our Direct Certification Improvement Project . We are excited to welcome Abby Leonhart to the CKF team as a Direct Certification Outreach Specialist!

Prior to her work at CKF, Abby worked as a Community Outreach Specialist and Patient Liaison at Scenic Bluffs Community Health Centers through the WI HealthCorps program. Abby received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Master’s degree in Public Health-Community Health Promotion from the University of Minnesota.

Direct Certification is the process by which students in households enrolled in FoodShare and W-2 are automatically eligible for free school meals. Abby and I will be working to assist School Food Authorities (SFAs) with increasing their capacity to consistently run the federally required direct certification (DC) process as efficiently and frequently as possible.

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Do you know families with tight food budgets?

For 10 years, CKF has been partnering with schools to develop and use systems that encourage eligible kids and families to enroll in public programs that support health. Since the start of the Direct Certification (DC) grant project in April 2012, the DC team has been researching materials promoting the correlation between FoodShare and the benefit of free school meals through Direct Certification. Upon reviewing materials, the team noticed that families with school aged children interested in enrolling for FoodShare may not be told about a critical benefit of enrollment. Students in households enrolled in FoodShare are automatically assured FREE, nutritious school meals!

Recognizing an opportunity, the team developed the Direct Certification promotional insert, which fits nicely into the DHS FoodShare brochure and provides clear information about automatic eligibility for free school meals for families enrolled in FoodShare.  Inserts were distributed to members of the University of Wisconsin-Extension team at the Family Living Programs Conference Impacting Families and Communities. Those folks work at a county level to support families and it is imperative that they have another tool to share with families in need. Since that conference, hundreds more Direct Certification promotional inserts have been distributed by CKF staff to schools in Milwaukee County.

A PDF version of the most recent DHS FoodShare brochure (P-16063) can be found here.  If you would like free copies of the FoodShare brochure (P-16063), please visit this website to fill out the appropriate information.

To request copies of CKF’s Direct Certification promotional insert, please call our Direct Certification Outreach Specialists at 608-890-4783. We’re happy to print 20 or more inserts at no cost for organizations or individuals to distribute.

CKF is hiring!

CKF is hiring! We seek an ambitious, energetic person to fill a position on our Direct Certification Improvement project. The ideal candidate will have experience in public policy administration, community outreach, and/or program evaluation. Excellent writing and communication skills are required. At least three years of experience working with Wisconsin’s educational, child nutrition and/or public health program systems highly preferred. Experience with data software systems also highly preferred. Interest in and experience with the social determinants of health also preferred. See more information though the official job posting and more about the project on our DC page.

Should Wisconsin expand its Medicaid program?

After the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of giving states the option to expand their Medicaid programs in 2014 to include individuals with incomes less than 138% of the federal poverty level.  Currently states’ Medicaid programs generally do not cover non-pregnant, non-disabled adults without dependent children, unless the state has made a concerted effort to do so. (In Wisconsin, for example, the BadgerCare Plus Core program provides a limited number of adults with a basic coverage option, with many more on a waiting list.)  Expanding Medicaid in 2014 has serious implications for states which policy makers must consider in their decision-making. 

The main considerations center on the cost and benefits of Medicaid expansion.  There is no doubt that Medicaid expansion will result in a reduction in the uninsured population, but critics question whether the anticipated savings of covering more people will actually offset the increase in funds being spent. Because states have Medicaid programs with varying levels of coverage, each must weigh the impact of expansion on both their economy and their population, now and into the future. 

For more information, check out the Kaiser Family Foundation’s review of these considerations in their November 2012 publication: The Cost and Coverage Implications of the ACA Medicaid Expansion: National and State-by-State Analysis.

Wisconsin hasn’t decided whether or not it will expand its Medicaid program. The federal government will pick up 100% of the costs associated with expansion for the first three years and 90% thereafter.  Although there is no set date for states to decide on Medicaid expansion, the extra financial assistance may influence the timing of states’ decisions.

Check out the links below for varying perspectives on Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin:

Wisconsin Council for Children and Families, Top Ten Reasons to Fill the Gap in BadgerCare

Secretary Dennis Smith comments on Medicaid Expansion

HealthWatch Wisconsin: Health Coverage Expansions Provide Hope and Jobs Opportunities for Wisconsin

For other state’s perspectives and decisions, check out the State Reforum website.

Covering Kids & Families will keep you updated on Wisconsin’s progress and decision as more information is made available.

Danielle