ABC for Health has partnered with HealthWatch Wisconsin to produce a Special Report: Wisconsin's Medical Schools Answer to the WUHF Board

August 11, 2010

Madison, WI - The Wisconsin United for Health Foundation (WUHF) Board sat across the table from leaders of Wisconsin's two medical schools at Madison's Inn on the Park almost one month after the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) documented their findings. The LAB spent a year digging into the policy, procedure, and practice of the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Conversion Funds, held in endowments by Wisconsin's two medical schools. This money represents BCBS's payback to the people of Wisconsin as part of the company's 2001 conversion to a for-profit entity. An Insurance Commissioner Order entrusted $600 million to the Medical College of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, to promote public health and education initiatives that will benefit the people of Wisconsin. 

WUHF Board members submitted written questions to both medical schools, to continue the conversation started at the July 15 meeting, where the LAB Report was presented. Board members were encouraged to identify areas of concern and considerations coming out of the LAB Report, especially the policy considerations/recommendations. They include:  

• Amend Conflict of Interest Policies.
• Clarify "allowable uses" of medical education and research funds.
• Redefine the supplanting prohibition.
• Determine the degree to which medical education and research funds should be competitively awarded.
• Determine the level of public health funding the schools may directly expend.
• The medical schools, in turn, submitted written responses. The August 9 meeting was an opportunity for further discussion on the written exchange.

Please Click Here To Read the Full Text Version of the HealthWatch Reporter.

New Health Coverage Plan Technology Approved
My Coverage Plan, Inc. Secures a Major Federal Grant to Reduce Health Disparities in Wisconsin

Madison, WI - My Coverage Plan, Inc., a Madison-based for profit subsidiary of ABC for Health Inc., received a major new grant for up to four years and $1.2 million from the National Institutes of Health's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to support and accelerate the development of new health coverage information technology (pat. pend.). "Our new My Coverage Plan technology is groundbreaking," says Bobby Peterson, public interest attorney, founder of ABC for Health, Inc., and President of My Coverage Plan, Inc. "The new company will create a web-based software solution to the vexing problem of correctly identifying and maximizing myriad public and private health care coverage options for both health consumers and providers. Our partnership with ABC for Health combines years of experience, expertise, and energy related to correctly identifying health care coverage strategies for patients." ABC for Health is a leading Wisconsin public interest law firm that has helped families navigate the maze and bureaucracy of health care financing and coverage programs for over 16 years.

Despite the passage of Health Reform, our systems continue with a complex interplay of public and private health care coverage options. Proactive benefits coordination is just one of the proven strategies to reduce avoidable health disparities related to a lack of coverage or adequate insurance. In the process, Peterson says My Coverage Plan technology will promote increased access to healthcare while reducing levels of uncompensated care for health care providers.

My Coverage Plan began as a "garage built" database used to conduct client interviews and identify coverage options for families. ABC for Health tested this model at St. Mary's Hospital, Madison, WI - now the outpost partner for the NIH Grant - and discovered that the hospital saved between $27-$30 for every $1 spent on pro-active health benefits counseling services for patients. Now, My Coverage Plan aims to take that model and streamline it for commercial use to reduce avoidable health disparities in Wisconsin and perhaps the nation.

"Madison is home to many successful start-up companies. My Coverage Plan will only enhance the areas culture of high tech job creation and growth." Peterson concludes, "We are honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award of funding. We are confident in our product development plan and eager to move forward with testing and implementation."