• Home
  • Archive
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
  • May 10, 2025

The Madison Times

The Paper That's More Than Black and White

  • News
    • Local News
    • National News
    • International News
    • Sports News
    • Education News
  • Columns
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Life Lessons with Alex Gee
  • Events
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Lifestyle
  • Classifieds
  • Community
    • Middle Spread
  • Milwaukee

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Wisconsin Makes Gains In Health Coverage

September 16, 2016

Census Data Shows Uninsured Rate Dropped To 5.7 Percent Last Year

By Shamane Mills

examination-table-doctor-officeWisconsin’s uninsured rate continues to go down. The U.S. Census Bureau reported the state’s uninsured rate last year dropped to 5.7 percent, meaning 323,000 Wisconsin residents went without health coverage in 2015.

That number has steadily dropped since the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010. In 2014, the uninsured rate was 7.3 percent, and in 2013 the rate was 9.1 percent.

“It shows that the federal health care reform law has been extremely effective in reducing the number of people who are uninsured, both nationally and here in Wisconsin,” said Jon Peacock, research director at the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.

The state’s improved coverage rate falls short of Gov. Scott Walker’s goals when he announced reforms to Medicaid. Walker predicted the state would cut the number of uninsured in half by shifting thousands of BadgerCare recipients to the private marketplace.

In a statement, Walker called the census report “welcome news” and noted Wisconsin tied with Rhode Island for sixth best in the nation for health coverage. Democrats and health advocacy groups say the state could improve insurance rates even further by accepting federal dollars to expand Medicaid.

Walker and other Republican governors refused to do so, saying savings now could lead to greater costs later.

Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2016, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Affordable Care Act ACA, Scott Walker, Shamane Mills, Uninsured Rate

Read More - Related Articles

  • The Affordable Care Act: Still Standing
  • Gov. Evers, State and Local Officials Announce Open Enrollment Period for Health Insurance
  • Wisconsin Granted Permission to Withdraw from Affordable Care Act Lawsuit
  • Access to Care a Responsibility of Us All
  • Wisconsin Is Working – Let’s Keep Moving Forward


Connect With Us

Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On Twitter
Follow Us On Twitter

Editorials

Karma Chavez
Amanda Zhang
Julianne Malveaux
Benjamin Chavis
George Curry

Journalists

Jacklin Bolduan
Brianna Rae
Aarushi Agni
Rob Franklin
Claire Miller

Topics

Brown Girl Green $
Young Gifted & Black
Universally Speaking
Ask Progress
Civil Rights

Topics

Police Shooting
Police Brutality
Black Lives Matter
NAACP
Racism

Politicians

Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Gwen Moore
Paul Soglin
Scott Walker

Contact Us

Phone:
414-449-4860

Copyright © 2025 Courier Communications. All Rights Reserved.
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.