Parents of previously uninsured Wisconsin children can begin to sign them up for health insurance starting today, as a new state health care plan takes effect, giving about 98 percent of Wisconsinites access to health insurance.

Low-income families will be able to sign up for coverage for free, and families earning up to about $48,000 a year will have coverage for $10 per month.

The program synthesizes Medicaid, Badger Care and Healthy Start, and according to Gov. Jim Doyle�s spokesperson Carla Vigue, it uses a great deal of federal, rather than state, funding.

Ninety percent of Wisconsinites already have access to health insurance, Vigue said Thursday.

�But there still is a gap, and it is a large number of children who are uninsured,� she added. �[The plan was introduced] to make sure every single child in the state has access to affordable health insurance.�

Doyle first proposed the idea in his 2005 State of the State address, and it was included in the final biennial budget after much debate.

�Health care in Wisconsin should be a birthright, not a ticket to bankruptcy,� Doyle said in a statement. �BadgerCare Plus is simple and will provide health care coverage that our children deserve at a price families can afford.�

Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbottsford, was a member of the joint committee that wrote the budget.

�I did question some aspects of BadgerCare Plus,� Suder said. �While I originally had some concerns with it, � in the overall budget package there was more good than bad.�

BadgerCare Plus was the alternative to a universal health care plan supported by Senate Democrats during the budget deliberations.

�When it came down to it, I would much rather have an incremental plan like BadgerCare Plus than a socialized medicine plan like the Democrats were pushing, which was universal health care,� Suder said.

Community organizations like the YMCA will receive a total of $500,000 in grants to start signing children up for the plan.