WI Moves Forward on Covering ALL Kids

Remember CHIPRA?  Wisconsin does and it’s putting it to use to get closer to its goal of providing affordable health coverage options to ALL kids.

CHIPRA, signed into law in February, provided states with the ability to cover lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women without a five-year waiting period.  Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has consistently said that the goal of “BadgerCare Plus (BC+)” is to make quality, affordable health insurance available to “all kids,” regardless of income.

The state made progress toward that goal this fall when the Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced that it was taking advantage of CHIPRA to get federal matching funds for extending health insurance to certain “lawfully residing” immigrant children and pregnant immigrant women.  As a result, those Wisconsin children and women will no longer have to reside in the U.S. for five years before they are eligible for BC+.

Jon Peacock, research director for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, explained this policy in an interview as part of the CCF Postcard series.  Jon points out that removing the five-year bar makes hundreds of additional children eligible but it is also likely to produce a “welcome mat” effect for many mixed status families who may not have realized their children were eligible even under the old rules.

Join CCF in cheering on our friends in Wisconsin and wish them well as they continue to strive to reach the goal of covering all kids.  The lyrics to “On Wisconsin!” certainly ring true as the state moves forward and its flame (a symbol of welcome to immigrants) glows a little brighter with this change in policy.

Stand up, Badgers, sing!
“Forward” is our driving spirit,
Loyal voices ring.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Raise her glowing flame!
Joan Alker is the Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families and a Research Professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy.

Latest