On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, enacting within it major provisions to expand access to health insurance coverage. Eliminates ACA insurance premiums for individuals up to 150% …
Medicaid expansion’s effect on private insurance costs in Wisconsin: New studies
The debate continues about the how a potential Medicaid expansion might affect costs in the private insurance market in Wisconsin. Competing studies seem to show opposite results, which makes it hard to know what to …
Wisconsin Medicaid Expansion: Other observations on the WILL/CROWE report
by Donna Friedsam Below are the less formal, initial comments, drafted by Donna Friedsam alone, about the CROWE study released Tuesday pertaining to the potential impact of Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin. As well, here is …
The fiscal effects of a Wisconsin Medicaid expansion: Reasons to question the WILL/CROWE report’s conclusions
by Laura Dague, PhD, Brendan Saloner, PhD, Marguerite Burns, PhD, Donna Friedsam, MPH A new report released by the UW Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy (CROWE) and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & …
Health Affairs: Does The Rural-Urban Frame Help Explain Health Status?
Donna Friedsam, Health Policy Programs Director at the UW Population Health Institute writes in Health Affairs blog: A misplaced focus on the rural-urban divide overlooks the shared experience between those who suffer poor health and …
How are Local Groups Sharing What they Know in the Fox Valley?
In September, the Evidence-Based Health Policy Project (EBHPP) held a program, co-hosted by state Representatives Dave Murphy, Mike Rohrkaste, and Amanda Stuck, that asked six groups working in different health areas in the Fox Valley …
New Census Data: Uninsured Rates in Wisconsin
This week, the US Census released 2016 data about the uninsured. It shows that, since 2013 (pre-Obamacare) to 2016, the number of uninsured people in Wisconsin has decreased by 218,000. The rate of uninsured has …
Health Care Quality & Disparities: Signs of Improvement
by Donna Friedsam Wisconsin hospitals have again performed very well on measures of health care quality compared to the average of all States nationally. The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in August …
More ACA/Obamacare updates
As noted in the previous blog post, updates continue to emerge about the counties where insurance carriers will offer ACA plans. CMS has published an updated map, as of August 23, 2017 showing only a …
The ACA in Wisconsin: What’s Next for Premiums, Insurance Markets, and Consumers?
by Donna Friedsam (Note: This post has been updated to reflect the change in health plan coverage of counties in Wisconsin and nationally as of the end of August) The longstanding effort by Congressional Republicans …