Wisconsin failing to approve Medicaid and food stamps applications in timely manner, By Jason Stein, November 2, 2009, Wisconsin State Journal: “Socked by tens of thousands of childless adults applying for a new state health plan, Wisconsin is failing to meet requirements in federal law for timely approvals of applications for both the Medicaid health coverage and food stamps. Since June 15, more than two-thirds of childless applicants with virtually no income - the highest priority cases - haven’t received food stamps within the federally required seven days, state figures show. Nearly two-thirds of all the childless adults seeking food stamps haven’t received them within the required 30 days. The same process is used to check whether applicants are eligible for both Medicaid and the federal FoodShare, or food stamps, program. Officials from the state Department of Health Services met Monday with federal officials to brief them on the delays and said they would seek to resolve the most pressing backlogged food stamp cases by the end of this week…”

More of state’s poor may soon get public defender, By Bruce Vielmetti, October 11, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Seven years after a Journal Sentinel investigation revealed how outdated eligibility criteria prevent hundreds of poor residents charged with crimes from getting a public lawyer, those same 1987 standards remain in effect. The criteria essentially say that anyone earning $7.25 an hour, with a $2,000 car and $300 cash isn’t poor enough for a public defender. The paper’s 2002 series “Unequal Justice” examined hundreds of cases in which defendants were denied a public defender and found dozens who were forced to defend themselves, including the nearly illiterate, a mentally impaired senior and a first-time defendant who thought the prosecutor was his lawyer. Everyone in the criminal justice system agreed in 2002 that the practice violates the U.S. Constitution and often leads to injustice. But year after year, legislative attempts to change the standards have failed…”

• State faces explosion of schoolkids qualified for subsidized meals, By Jacob Kushner and Kryssy Pease, September 20, 2009, Wisconsin State Journal: “Nearly four in 10 Wisconsin elementary students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch last school year, and the proportion of such students has climbed every year of this decade, according to state Department of Public Instruction data analyzed by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. The center found the proportion of Wisconsin elementary students eligible for subsidized lunches hit 37.6 percent last year, compared with 30.3 percent in 2000…”
• Green Bay district gains most low-income elementary students in state, By Kelly McBride, September 20, 2009, Green Bay Press-Gazette: “The Green Bay School District has gained more low-income elementary school students than any other district in the state since 2000, a new analysis shows. The district’s low-income population grew by 2,398 elementary school students during that time, more than the Milwaukee, Madison or Kenosha school districts, according to a report released today by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that produces regular investigative projects…”
• Economic downturn reflected at Southwest Florida schools, By Christopher O’Donnell, September 21, 2009, Sarasota Herald-Tribune: “Hit hard by layoffs and paycuts, more Florida families than ever are turning to federal aid to feed their children at school. Even in Southwest Florida, long seen as an area of affluence, the number of children qualifying for the federal government’s free or reduced lunch program has risen sharply this year. For the first time, more than half of Manatee County students — some 22,000 children — meet income guidelines that qualify them for government assistance…”

In dour economy, more indigent burials get public funds, By Laurel Walker, September 8, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Recent elaborate funeral services for the likes of Sen. Edward Kennedy or Michael Jackson may grab the public’s attention. But among the ranks of the impoverished, the number of indigents who need publicly financed burials has been quietly growing. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has recorded a nearly 15% increase in indigent burials qualifying for public subsidy between 2006 and 2008, when the number jumped from 3,169 to 3,629. Department spokeswoman Stephanie Smiley said the state spent just over $6.1 million in general purpose funds in 2006 to reimburse funeral homes and cemeteries for those services. The figure grew to $7.4 million last year. Through August of this year, the total is $6.1 million. Anecdotal evidence from news stories around the country, from California to West Virginia, suggests a common theme - that more people are needing government help to bury their loved ones…”

• Despite fixes, unemployment department still tough to reach for many, By Denis C. Theriault, September 7, 2009, San Jose Mercury News: “Despite an infusion of money and workers in recent months, the phone number that most out-of-work Californians rely on for questions about their unemployment benefits or missing checks remains swamped by millions of calls. Officials say it still takes about 17 tries before a live operator is reached at the state Employment Development Department and that nearly two-thirds of the 18.9 million calls received last month were rejected because the phone service was too busy…”
• Wisconsin unemployment phone line dropped 86% of calls, By Ellen Gabler, September 6, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The voices taunt thousands of Wisconsin’s unemployed. Here’s what happens: Unemployed people call a hotline run by the Department of Workforce Development to check on their claims for unemployment benefits or to answer agency questions about their application. The calm, recorded voice of a woman says: ‘To speak with the next available claims specialist, press 0.’ But about 86% of the time, the caller is soon disconnected with a simple ‘Goodbye’ from the calm, recorded voice of a man. The callers still don’t know why their unemployment checks haven’t hit their bank account, and they can’t ask a live person any questions…”

A Milwaukee clinic fills a need but faces failure, By Kevin Sack, September 1, 2009, New York Times: “Like many low-income neighborhoods, the north side of Milwaukee has seen a gradual depletion of its primary care doctors over the last two decades. One by one, they have retired or surrendered to financial reality, rarely to be replaced. At the few remaining practices, the wait for an appointment can make it almost purposeless to seek one. When Martha Brown’s 3-year-old daughter, Loverree, woke up with a runny nose last Thursday, her doctor’s office told her it would be a week. ‘I couldn’t wait,’ Ms. Brown said. ‘I had to see what was wrong with my baby. I think she’s got an infection.’ Rather than heading to an emergency room, Ms. Brown took her three children to the Milwaukee Immediate Care Center, a small nonprofit clinic that has treated the north side’s largely African-American community since 1986. The clinic, which keeps hours at night and on weekends, is the only full-time operation in the neighborhood that provides urgent care, luring patients with a sign that reads, ‘When You Need a Doctor Today…’”

Poverty’s punch still packs power, By Stacy Vogel, August 30, 2009, Janesville Gazette: “Mike and Cheryl Easton have struggled over the past year. The Janesville couple moved in with Mike’s dad after a stint at the House of Mercy homeless center. They’ve taken care of sick parents while dealing with their own health and family problems. On top of all that, they can’t find full-time, steady work. They deliver newspapers to pay for necessities for them and their 3-year-old son, David, and contribute toward household bills. ‘I’ve been applying everywhere,’ Mike said. ‘It’s insane.’ The Eastons’ story is typical in Janesville since the economy crashed in fall 2008. Jobs just aren’t available, local experts and those looking for work said. The Gazette addressed Janesville’s growing poverty rate in a three-day series one year ago. It pointed to U.S. Census data showing that Janesville’s population living below the federal poverty rate nearly doubled, from 6.5 percent to 12.7 percent, between 1999 and 2006. Since then, the national economy has collapsed. The situation is even worse in Janesville, where a host of companies, most notably General Motors, have laid off workers or moved out all together…”

Government extends SeniorCare through 2012, By Stacy Forster, August 18, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The federal government will extend SeniorCare, the state’s popular prescription drug program, through 2012, Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday. SeniorCare is an alternative to the federal Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage plan for low-income residents aged 65 and older, and it is the only program of its kind in the country. The state program was to end Dec. 31. Doyle and Wisconsin’s congressional delegation had asked President Barack Obama’s administration to extend the program for three years…”

BadgerCare Plus Core has huge enrollment backlog, By Diana Montaño, August 14, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The overwhelming demand for BadgerCare Plus Core, the new Medicaid-funded insurance program for low-income childless adults, has the state struggling to process the large number of applications filed in the program’s first two months. The lag is frustrating applicants, community health workers and health officials alike. ‘I feel like it’s $60 down the drain,’ said Cassandra Fier, 23, of the $60 application fee she paid June 15. She has not heard anything since. ‘If the state’s going to be slow, they need to be sending something to individuals letting them know what’s going on.’ From June 15 to Aug. 7, the state Department of Health Services received 37,211 applications for the Core program, of which only 5,000 were processed. Under program guidelines, the state has 30 days to process an application and, if approved, coverage is to begin on the following 1st or 15th of the month…”

Payday lenders giving lobbyists big paydays to stop interest cap, By Cary Spivak and Patrick Marley, August 2, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The latest bid to regulate Wisconsin’s payday lending industry is turning into a big bonanza for the Madison lobbying corps, as more than two dozen influence-peddlers fight a proposed 36% cap on interest rates. At stake is the future of the much-maligned industry that provides small short-term loans with double-digit interest rates. Those rates can skyrocket - quickly hitting 400% or more yearly - as borrowers unable to pay off their debts repeatedly roll over the loans…”

• BadgerCare Plus expansion means adults without children are eligible, By Stacy Forster, July 14, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Hundreds of Wisconsin residents who have previously been without health insurance will be covered Wednesday with the start of an expanded state health program, while thousands more are poised to be enrolled in coming weeks.  The expansion of the BadgerCare Plus program to adults without dependent children comes at a time when enrollment in state health care programs has exceeded 1 million participants for the first time. That’s about 18% of the state’s population…”
• Massachusetts takes a step back from health care for all, By Abby Goodnough, July 14, 2009, New York Times:  “The new state budget in Massachusetts eliminates health care coverage for some 30,000 legal immigrants to help close a growing deficit, reversing progress toward universal coverage just as Congress looks to the state as a model for overhauling the nation’s health care system.  The affected immigrants, permanent residents who have had green cards for less than five years, are now covered under Commonwealth Care, a subsidized insurance program for low-income residents that is central to the groundbreaking health care law enacted here in 2006…”