MONROE - About 13 percent of Green County residents are without health insurance, according to Kris Wisnefske, parish nurse at Monroe Clinic.
They, and the options available to them, are the reasons for the seventh annual "Cover the Uninsured Week" event Friday afternoon. National Cover the Uninsured Week is March 22-28.
According to covertheuninsured.org, about 90 percent of Wisconsin residents had insurance. A little more than 59 percent of Wisconsin employers offered health insurance.
More still needs to be done, Wisnefske said.
"People without insurance need to feel comfortable that they're not in this alone," she said. "There are other people with the same problem."
As people in the county lose jobs due to a sluggish economy, there are more people without insurance.
"People (who have lost their job) will be able to find out what services are available to them," she said.
Over the past seven years, health insurance has remained an important issue before the public, Wisnefske said.
"It may seem like we're singing the same song, but if we didn't keep the issue in front of people, where would we be?" she said.
Monroe Clinic will host a public forum at 2 p.m. Friday in Founder's Hall, in the lower level clinic building, to discuss the importance of health insurance. Local policy makers, healthcare leaders and state representatives will be on hand to discuss the challenges of affordable and accessible health care.
The forum is sponsored by the Green County Health Department, Green County Human Services, The Monroe Times, the Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, St. Vincent DePaul, The Swiss Colony, the Cooperative Network of Wisconsin, the United Way and Monroe Clinic.
More information is available by calling Wisnefske at 324-1185 or at monroeclinic.org or covertheuninsured.org.
They, and the options available to them, are the reasons for the seventh annual "Cover the Uninsured Week" event Friday afternoon. National Cover the Uninsured Week is March 22-28.
According to covertheuninsured.org, about 90 percent of Wisconsin residents had insurance. A little more than 59 percent of Wisconsin employers offered health insurance.
More still needs to be done, Wisnefske said.
"People without insurance need to feel comfortable that they're not in this alone," she said. "There are other people with the same problem."
As people in the county lose jobs due to a sluggish economy, there are more people without insurance.
"People (who have lost their job) will be able to find out what services are available to them," she said.
Over the past seven years, health insurance has remained an important issue before the public, Wisnefske said.
"It may seem like we're singing the same song, but if we didn't keep the issue in front of people, where would we be?" she said.
Monroe Clinic will host a public forum at 2 p.m. Friday in Founder's Hall, in the lower level clinic building, to discuss the importance of health insurance. Local policy makers, healthcare leaders and state representatives will be on hand to discuss the challenges of affordable and accessible health care.
The forum is sponsored by the Green County Health Department, Green County Human Services, The Monroe Times, the Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, St. Vincent DePaul, The Swiss Colony, the Cooperative Network of Wisconsin, the United Way and Monroe Clinic.
More information is available by calling Wisnefske at 324-1185 or at monroeclinic.org or covertheuninsured.org.