Month: December 2012

"We can predict this weekend that someone is going to get shot," says Stephen Hargarten, chief of the Emergency Department at Froedtert Hospital. Hargarten is sitting on a stool inside the emergency room. It is quiet, a slow morning. He is reflecting on the cost of gun violence in America, amid a season of mass shootings. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/21)

Wisconsin is getting a $23.3 million bonus for making Medicaid accessible for children, the federal government said Wednesday. It's the third such federal bonus for the state in three years. This year's bonus is the fourth highest among 23 states rewarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 12/20)

Although Madison continues to have the lowest monthly premium costs in the state, it saw a one-year 8 percent jump in the health insurance inflation rate, which is double the state average, according to the seventh Wisconsin Health Insurance Cost Ranking report released Wednesday by Citizen Action of Wisconsin suggests there could be some truth to that view. (CAPITAL TIMES, 12/20)

Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday he wants to examine the state’s mental health systems in the wake of Friday’s massacre in Newtown, Conn. Walker planned to talk later in the day with the Assembly’s top Democrat and said he was open to ideas about what can be done to curb gun violence, though he indicated there may not be any room for improvement when it comes to restricting access to guns for people with mental illness. (LA CROSSE TRIBUNE, 12/19)

Calling Milwaukee County's Mental Health Complex "old and busted," Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he backed efforts to switch more patients to community care. Walker called suggestions that the state revoke the county's hospital license and take over the complex "a good leverage point" and "something to consider." But he didn't take a firm position for or against such a dramatic move. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/17)

The nonprofit health systems in the Milwaukee area are quick to state their support for access to care and to note the costs they incur from people who don't have health insurance. But that doesn't mean they are urging Gov. Scott Walker to expand the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act, even with the federal government paying 100% of the cost through 2016, before declining to 90% in 2019. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/17)

The state health secretary will tell Congress on Thursday that Wisconsin will pay more for its health care programs for the needy under the looming federal health care law but doesn't have hard financial figures yet on his claim. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/13)