EDITOR:

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin has stopped accepting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Health Plan (Medicaid.) What this means for U.P. kids on UPHP who need pediatric services is a 22 hour round trip car trip to lower Michigan to receive care instead of two hours away in Appleton. Whose fault is this? According to an appeal letter I received from UPHP my daughter and her insurance was not accepted by Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

According to a CHOW representative I was told that the problem lies with UPHP for not continuing negotiations with WCHO on provider reimbursement. So, who is telling the truth? I don’t know. But the fact remains that U.P. families with children needing pediatric care should not have to drive a total of 22 hours just to get the same medical care they can receive two hours away in Wisconsin. Such policies are inhumane because they make it harder for children to receive the care they need.

The only way healthcare bullies are defeated is when we all rise up and speak for the right of a Yooper child to access healthcare close to home. No child should be forced to sit in a car 22 hours for a doctor’s appointment. So Yooper mamas, papas, aunties, uncles, grandparents of Yooper kids, pick up the phone and make a call for the children of the UP.

Representative Prestin (517) 373-0156

Representative Markkanen (517) 373-0850

Senator McBroom (517) 373-7840

Melissa Holmquest CEO of the Upper Peninsula Health Plan 906 255 7500

Peggy Troy CEO of Wisconsin Children’s Hospital 414 266 2000

Tracy Asanuma

Iron Mountain