The Wisconsin Well Woman Program provides preventive health screening services to women with little or no health insurance coverage. Well Woman pays for mammograms, Pap tests, certain other health screenings. While the program continues, state officials moved make changes, they say, resulting from Obamacare that enabled a regional, rather than county, approach. The program changed July 1.
State Senator Janet Bewley, whose district covers parts of Vilas, Iron and Price counties, says the program was working well and was cost effective. Democrat Bewley says low income women have fewer choices to get screened for diseases like cancer. She says many women will have to drive long distances...
"....they're(Department of Health Services) saying 'we'll fund it the same', but if women don't have access to the health care, it's as good as cutting it...."
The number of health providers has dropped from 1000 to about 400.
Bewley says the odd thing is the changes have no budget considerations as the program has not run a deficit.
