Wisconsin Health Insurance

How healthy is living
in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin is the 16th healthiest state to live in according to the 2012 America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation.

The good news:

• The state's high school graduation rate increased to 90.7 percent – number one in the nation.
• At just under 10 percent, the uninsured rate is low compared to other states.

The bad news:

• The percentage of children in poverty jumped nearly nine percentage points from 2011 to 2012; it's currently 21.4 percent.
• Wisconsin ranks 50th for binge drinking, with 24.3 percent of adults affected.
• Wisconsin spends $39 per person on public health funding – less than any other state.

Wisconsin's best and worst category rankings:

• High School Graduation Rate – 1st
• Lack of Health Insurance – 6th
• Poor Mental Health Days – 7th
• Children in Poverty – 27th
• Infant Mortality – 27th
• Binge Drinking – 50th
• Public Health Funding – 50th

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Wisconsin.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key Wisconsin health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts Wisconsin here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for Wisconsin, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

Does Wisconsin have a health insurance high risk pool?

Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan
Toll-free 1-800-828-4777

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, Wisconsin started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about Wisconsin's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

Non-profit sources of health insurance information for Wisconsin

• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's mission is to provide simplified public and private health insurance eligibility information in order to help more people access coverage. Here is its guide on how to find health insurance in Wisconsin.
• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is tracking the progress of health insurance reform in each state. Its page for Wisconsin can be found here.
• The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers. Search for Wisconsin health insurance plan report cards.

Wisconsin state government health insurance resources

Legislative Council on health care reform —  Progress reports on Wisconsin’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

ForwardHealth: Wisconsin Medicaid —  Information on the federal/state program to provide health coverage for those without the means to pay for it.

Free or low cost health clinics in Wisconsin —  A list of clinics in Wisconsin are available for people with little or no insurance.

BadgerCare PLUS —  A Wisconsin program to provide health care coverage for uninsured families.

How did Wisconsin officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Yes (5)

• Sean Duffy
• Thomas Petri
• Reid Ribble

• Paul Ryan
• F. Sensenbrenner

Our
Pick

No (3)

• Tammy Baldwin
• Ronald Kind
• Gwen Moore