Lessons from Wisconsin- A national model?

This is from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation lauding Wisconsin's effort to expand health insurance. They also provide details on Vermont efforts as well. Links to the reports are provided.

Again I fail to understand why Congress insists on creating new programs and creating ever more complexity in the already fractured and stressed health care system. Learn from what works and expand it nationally--- i.e. episodes of care based reimbursement and Lean processes. We have the evidence to do this correctly.

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Expand and Simplify: Lessons from Wisconsin and Vermont
New Issue Briefs Identify Important Lessons for Health Reform From Vermont and Wisconsin
Having reached maximum enrollment levels just three months after its launch, Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus is receiving increased attention from health reformers around the country. According to a new issue brief released today, the program’s enrollment success holds important lessons about program design for those involved in health reform at both the state and national level. The brief, released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE) program, finds that substantial increases in enrollment can be achieved by designing programs with key elements including:
--Whole family coverage via expanded eligibility for lower-income parents and caretaker;
--Targeted auto-enrollment;
--Expanded income eligibility limits;
--Relaxed anti-crowd-out provisions for lower income applicants;
--Shift of employer insurance verification responsibilities away from applicants to program administrators; and
--Aggressive outreach and enrollment strategies conducted with community partners.

A second issue brief released from SHARE today finds that the percentage of Vermonters without health insurance has decreased significantly since reform began in 2006, and insurance coverage in Vermont has increased more rapidly than in other New England states during this time. According to the brief, most of the increase in Vermont’s coverage is a result of expanded public coverage—enrollment in Catamount Health has increased sharply and steadily during the program’s initial months. Researchers also found that key stakeholders in the state were generally satisfied with enrollment levels to date, despite barriers to enrollment.

Links:
Read the Wisconsin BadgerCare Plus issue brief. http://www.rwjf.org/healthreform/product.jsp?id=49949

Read the Vermont issue brief.
http://www.rwjf.org/healthreform/product.jsp?id=49948