Good Morning to All,
My father who is a retired physician in Madison, WI, and who helped to establish a Free Clinic in Middleton, WI (Benevolent Specialist Project-Free Clinic), contacted me two days ago with this valuable information re: low cost health insurance for Farmers and Small Businesses in under served areas of the State.
I am passing it on to you and if anyone has an interest in checking into this…please do. I will take a look at this myself, as we have a small business. I have just this.. the bones of information..you may want to verify what is available or already established in Langlade County, but I hope this may help someone out. I have included contact phone numbers for further information.
The University of Wisconsin Medical School is now named The State Medical School and Public Health School. The institution came into a large sum of money from Blue Cross Blue Shield Ins. when that company wanted to become a non-profit organization. To establish themselves as non-profit, BC/BS took their profits and divided them equally between The UW Med School and the Milwaukee Med School, and contributed the dollars with the stipulation that this money be allocated for the use of the people in the State of Wisconsin but not to be used to fund research, pay salaries, etc. The UW came up with the plan known as the Wisconsin Partnership Program. One arm of this Program is the Co-op Care Program. It helps to provide low cost heath insurance to Farmers and Small businesses in under served areas through the formation of a Co-op. The contact individual for this program is Matt Krumenauer. His phone number is 608.258-4402.
There is currently a Co-op in Green Bay called “Healthy Lifestyles Coop”. The director is Randy Connour. His number is 920.593-3426.
There are 13 established co-ops in NE Wisconsin. I do not know if Langlade is one of these. Some one would need to check. These co-ops serve Farmers and Small Businesses. If anyone is interested and Langlade County is already in the Coop, then make a call to Randy Connour for more information.
If there is a coop here but it is now closed to any more people, it may be possible to start a new one. The person to contact if that is the case, is Matt Krumenauer. He can tell you what to do to start the process of beginning a new coop.
With health care costs on the rise and with the current state of the economy, this may provide people in our area with an affordable alternative to the high cost of health insurance. Best of luck to those who choose to look into this:)
Maureen Gallenberg
.