One Madison family's experience shows the challenges of staying connected with health care. Just a over a year ago, Brian Rossi was late with a payment to BadgerCare, the state health insurance plan for low income residents. He racked up thousands in medical expenses before finally being reinstated. Rossi said he was frustrated by poor communication with his caseworker, who he said failed to return numerous phone calls. At a press conference on Monday, Rossi wondered "how many other people are eligible for BadgerCare and were denied because their caseworker didn't return their phone calls?"
Bobby Peterson with the nonprofit public interest law firm ABC for Health , said medical debt can be crippling for many families. "It's an electronic debtors prison," said Peterson. "Once families tumble into medical debt . . . they can't get a credit card, they can't get a loan, they can 't get an apartment, and sometimes they can't even get a job." This is Cover the Uninsured Week, and Peterson's group has developed the ADVOKIT, to assist providers in finding health care and coverage for people without it.