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REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN: 3rd Annual HealthWatch Wisconsin Conference!
"Back to Basics: The Proposed BadgerCare Plus Basic"
Join the staff of HealthWatch Wisconsin, ABC for Health, and area experts as we gather for the 3rd Annual HealthWatch Wisconsin Conference February 8 & 9, 2010. In addition to a review of the latest health reform news, we will explore the proposed BadgerCare Plus Basic buy-in program, discuss outreach and advocacy strategies for working with Wisconsin's health care consumers, and dig into issues like functional screens, new private health insurance rules, health literacy, and health disparities. Network with agencies, providers, academics, health care journalists, and legislators committed to assuring a more sufficient, competent and coordinated public health workforce.
Location: Best Western Inn on the Park, 22 S. Carroll Street, Madison, WI
Conference Dates:
Monday, February 8, 2010, 1:00pm-4:30pm; (Evening Awards Reception 6:00pm-8:00pm)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 8:30am-4:30pm
REGISTER TODAY!!
Click Here to Register Online
-or-
Download our Conference Registration Form.
Registration is open December 1, 2009 through February 1, 2010. Any registrations on or after February 2, 2010 will be subject to a late fee. As always, there is a deep discount for registered members of HealthWatch Wisconsin - you pay less than half the regular conference fee! Group Discounts Available! For every 10 individuals registered from your organization, you will receive 2 free conference registrations! That's 12 for the price of 10! Prices range from $20 to $240. Come for one day or both! You can find a price that’s right for you and your agency!
Lodging: Conference participants are responsible for their own lodging accommodations. If you plan to stay at the conference hotel either the night of February 7, 8 or 9, please mention the "HealthWatch Wisconsin Block of Rooms" to get the discounted room rate of $94.00 for rooms with one bed (1 to 2 people), $104.00 for rooms with two beds (1 to 2 people), and $134.00 for suites. Rates do not include taxes of 5.5% for the state or 9% for the city, if applicable. Hotel check-in time is after 3 p.m. and check-out time is before 12 p.m. Reservations can be made at the Inn on the Park by phone: (608) 285-8000 or (800) 279-8811. The rates quoted above are good for a limited time (through early January, 2010).
Calling
all Green Bay Packers Fans!!
Join HealthWatch TODAY for a chance to win indoor club seat tickets to future Packers
games. Several drawings are held each season. Click
here for more information.
HealthWatch
Wisconsin Conference 2009 A Success!
The second annual HealthWatch Wisconsin Conference was a great success! Thank you to the 165+ attendees, speakers and representatives from throughout the state who joined us to help make it such an informative and useful event. Please click
here to purchase conference materials.
My Health
Insurance Guidebook for Wisconsin 2008 Now Available
ABC
for Health is excited to announce the new release of My Health Insurance
Guidebook for Wisconsin 2008. Now Wisconsin consumers can
effectively fight back and challenge inappropriate denials of coverage
by health insurance companies said author and Public Interest Attorney
Bobby Peterson of ABC for Health. This information packed guide will help
families and professionals deal with the legal and health issues related
to private health insurance. This useful publication helps families understand
and assert their rights to care and coverage when an insurance company
refuses to pay. The book also includes strategies and legal protections
for families dealing with medical debt. For more information, click
here.
Become
a Member of HealthWatch Wisconsin:
The New Membership Year Runs July 1, 2009-June
30, 2010!
There
has never been a better time to become a member of HealthWatch Wisconsin.
Whether you are joining for the first time or renewing your membership,
you are teaming up with an impressive new effort in Wisconsin that will
work to focus and amplify the voices of heath care advocates across the
state. Click
Here to Register NOW!
Your membership
fee of only $20.00 ensures that you are involved in assuring a more
sufficient, competent, and coordinated public health workforce that will
assist people in accessing health care coverage and services. If that
is not enough incentive, joining HealthWatch Wisconsin also means:
o Green
Bay Packers Tickets! Membership renders you eligible for the
Packers Tickets Prize Drawings, which happen
several times each season!
o Comprehensive online and live trainings on health care coverage programs
o Detailed publications on advocacy strategies and tips
o Discounted registration for conferences and events
o A chance to meet your friends at our Annual Conference-at a great discount
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Congratulations
Carola for being the winner of tickets to the November 16th Packers
vs Bears game! |
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Bobby
presents Brenda with tickets to the August 11th Packers vs Bengals
game.
Congratulations Brenda! |
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Bobby
and Nora from ABC for Health draw for Packer Tickets |
As a member
of HealthWatch Wisconsin, you are now eligible to receive the HealthWatch
Wisconsin Update, our bi-weekly email update that highlights
the latest news, trends, and case tips related to health care coverage
and financing. You will be kept current with links to the new HealthWatch
Watch Dog, a bi-weekly talk show that spots policy issues and
trends relevant to the public health workforce.

HealthWatch
Wisconsin members can also participate in selected web-based, health care
advocacy training programs designed to help families connect to health
care coverage and services.
NEW
IN 2008 FOR MEMBERS:
By joining HealthWatch for the 2008-2009 membership year, you will receive
a FREE PDF copy of the 2008 Edition of My Health Insurance Guide
Book for Wisconsin.
The comprehensive Health Insurance Guide Book (HIG) is designed to educate
families and other service providers in Wisconsin about their legal rights
related to health insurance and managed care. How many times have the
families you served heard: "CLAIM DENIED." These two simple
words can have a devastating effect on a family's budget and emotional
wellbeing. A claim denial often means unpaid medical bills that can make
recovery from an illness much more complicated and add an extra burden
of stress on family members. Families are often too overwhelmed to fully
understand their legal options to challenge these denials. The HIG includes
information on:
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the
major kinds of health insurance plans |
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the
legal protections afforded by state and federal health insurance law |
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how
families can pro-actively avoid coverage denials |
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how
to deal with coverage and claim denials |
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special
coverage strategies faced by families with children with special health
care needs |
JOIN
HEALTHWATCH TODAY to get this valuable resource to better help
the families you see every day!
Please click
here to read the Press Release to announce the start of HealthWatch
Wisconsin!
A powerful
new collaborative public health effort is emerging in Wisconsin. HealthWatch
Wisconsin, currently a project of ABC for Health, was funded by the University
of Wisconsin Medical School Partnership Fund for a Healthy Future to transform
the public health system by assuring a more sufficient, competent, and
coordinated public health workforce that will assist people in accessing
health care coverage and services. By training a broad spectrum of the
public health workforce, HealthWatch Wisconsin will focus and amplify
statewide efforts and strategies to connect people to health care and
coverage.
By 2010,
the statewide HWW organization, through training, technical assistance,
collaboration, and coordination, will increase the capacity of at least
400 members of the public health workforce to assure access to health
care coverage and services for Wisconsin's un- and under-insured populations.
HWW will achieve this goal in the time allotted by following five strategies:
Strategy
1: HealthWatch Wisconsin Council - Establish a HealthWatch Wisconsin
Council (HWWC), comprised of a faculty partner and local, regional, and
statewide representatives of the public health workforce from all over
the state, to facilitate coordination and a flow of information between
and among local public health workers.
Strategy 2: Local Coalitions - Promote, develop, and sustain local
HealthWatch coalitions through technical assistance, leadership training,
and funding.
Strategy 3: Training and Education - HWW will transform the health
care landscape by improving the public health workforce's capacity through
trainings and interactive web-based educational materials, as well as
pre- and post-training competency testing.
Strategy 4: Issue Identification and Tracking - Mine aggregate
client counter data from ABC for Health, Inc., to identify issues and
barriers to accessing health care coverage and services and develop education
and outreach tools, coordinated through local HealthWatch coalitions,
to help the public health workforce increase its capacity to serve the
un- and under-insured, thereby transforming the health care system.
Strategy 5: Statewide Conference - Convene a statewide conference
and training with key statewide stakeholders in the fall of 2007 to develop
and promote a focused 2008 training agenda on access to care and coverage
for people in Wisconsin.
HealthWatch
Wisconsin will become self-sustainable as a membership-driven grassroots
organization dedicated to improving access to health care coverage and
services for Wisconsin families.
To view the
HealthWatch Wisconsin statewide Coalition Network please click
here.
Please check
our website frequently for updates, developments, and postings. Please
contact ABC for Health staff at 1-800-585-4222 with any questions or for
more information.
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Recent
News
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HealthWatch
Wisconsin is pleased to announce its third season of Green Bay
Packer Ticket Drawings! Click
here for more information.
To view last year's winners please click here
|
ABC Debunks Myths of Health Reform
Click here to read the press release! |
Public Health Funds Need Effective Oversight
Click here to read ABC's Press Release
Click here to read ABC's letter to the WUHF Board |
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Publications are available for Sale! Click here for pricing information. Members receive many of these publications for FREE! |
HealthWatch
Wisconsin Conference CD Available!
Please click
here to purchase conference materials.
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Stay
tuned for our next HealthWatch WatchDog
Episode, Developing Statewide Coordinated advocacy in wisconsin! Click
here for more infomation |
1st
Annual Dane County HealthWatch Picnic!
The Dane County HealthWatch Coalition held it's first annual picnic
at Tenney Park in Madison. Thank you to everyone who attended. Please
click
here to view pictures from the event.
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HWW
Welcomes Dunn County!
Congratulations to Dunn County on the start up of their new HealthWatch
Coalition. Click
here for details! |
Calling
all Volunteers!
Are you
a student looking for some valuable, hands on experience? Are you
a professional looking to work on policy issues and health care reform?
Contact Brynne at HealthWatch Wisconsin for more information! (bmcbride@safetyweb.org)
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