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By: Matt Werlein
The sun begins to set behind Sacred Heart Hospital, 900 W. Clairemont Ave., on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006. Sacred Heart Hospital is one of several area hospitals serving the Eau Claire community.
The American Public Health Association is an important organization when it comes to setting public health policies
The Walgreens pharmacy offers facts and tips for medicare and insurance questions.
Wisconsin voters push health care coverage
By Matt Werlein
werleimt@uwec.edu
Imagine yourself having to make the decision between getting the medical care your child needs or putting food on the table.
Or how about having health care insurance and, in the blink of an eye, a prolonged illness or an illness not covered by your insurance company, comes along and financially wipes you and your family out.
For many Americans, this is not just a thought; it’s reality.
According to the United Health Foundation, more than 46.6 million Americans are uninsured. This represents 15.9 percent of the citizens of the United States.
So, who decides who gets insurance and receives healthcare and who doesn’t?
Citizens in Eau Claire decided to put the matter to the test when they approved a health care referendum Nov. 7, 2006. The referendum called for a plan which would reduce health care costs by 15 percent by the year 2008.
According to the American Public Health Association, this year, Wisconsin had a 2.3 percent increase in health improvement over where they were at this same time last year.
Wisconsin was ranked third for the largest percentage increase in the nation, the APHA stated.
Nicole Weis, a nuclear medicine technologist at St. Luke’s South Shore Hospital, 5900 S. Lake Drive, in Cudahy, feels individuals have opportunities to health care.
“I feel health care is accessible to most people,” she said. “The government just doesn’t do a good job of paying for it.”
Mathew Boyeson is a senior technician at the Walgreens Pharmacy, 1106 W. Clairemont Ave., for the past four years. He said his pharmacy refills between 250 to 300 prescriptions a day and they have to deal with different health insurance companies on a daily basis.
Boyeson, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, said Walgreens accepts all insurance for prescription insurance.
It’s solely for prescription drugs, but we do offer a discount plan, he said.
“Medicare Part D accepts all prescriptions (at Walgreens),” Boyeson said, adding that the coverage for prescription drugs fluctuates from company to company.