You have four days to enroll in a popular state health care program. If you’ve been planning to enroll in BadgerCare Plus but haven’t yet done so, Governor Jim Doyle is urging you to take action: enrollment in the program for adults without dependent children will be suspended at noon Friday. “Anyone who applies for the program by Friday at noon, pays their application fee within 30 days, and is confirmed eligible, will be guaranteed coverage under the core plan,” Doyle said during a press conference at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison.
Doyle, who says six to seven hundred people have enrolled every day, seven days a week, since BadgerCare Plus was announced in June, expects the announcement of the enrollment suspension will spur a surge of activity this week, and he’s urging people to enroll online. “Please apply on line,” Doyle reiterated. “The website is available 24 hours a day, and as long as you apply before noon on Friday, you will be included in the program, if you meet the requirements.
There’s a set amount of federal Medicaid money available to fund BadgerCare, which has already exceeded its enrollment cap of 54,000. Doyle expects up to 20,000 people may end up on the waiting list, and Doyle says he’s directed the Department of Health Services to offer some basic level of coverage for those people. DHS Secretary Karen Timberlake said she expects it may take two up to months, before those who apply for BadgerCare Plus this week are eligible for coverage.
