Greendale Board of Health

Ashley Haas MPA, BSN, RN Public Health Director ahaas@greendale.org  
Ronald Barbian Trustee Representative rbarbian@greendale.org  
Kim Price BSN, RN Community Member kprice70@wi.rr.com  
Kim Krueger RN Community Member kkrueger11@wi.rr.com  
Thomas Slota MD Community Member thomasslota@gmail.com  
Muddassir Mohiuddin, DPT, PT   Community Member mmohiuddin@tahcares.com  
Joleen Brewer, MSN, APNP Community Member joleen.brewer@rogersbh.org  
Jessica Reger, CNS, RN Community Member jessicazaborowski4585@gmail.com
 
Guy Ouellette Community Member  guy.ouellette33@gmail.com  
Ali Siddiqui, MD Medical Advisor- Ex-Officio ali.siddiqui@froedtert.com  

BOARD OF HEALTH PRIORITY AREA

We have access to an abundance of health-related information at the tips of our fingers, but it can be hard to find the right resources you're looking for and it can be difficult to decipher scientific phrases and acronyms, or determine if someone is providing false information.  The Village of Greendale Board of Health will share relevant information from reliable sources and will strive to help residents and stakeholders have a better understanding about our community's health!
 

Health Literacy 
 Health Literacy means "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic information and services needed to make appropriate decisions regarding their health" (Institute of Medicine).  Wisconsin Health Literacy also gives an explanation of what health literacy is; "health literacy is the use of a wide range of skills that improve the ability of people to act on information in order to live healthier lives.  These skills include reading, writing, listening, speaking, critical thinking, as well as interaction and communication skills".

-  Literacy skills can be the strongest predictor of health status.
-  It can vary over time, depending on a person's health status, medications, or emotional state.  
-  Everyone is likely to experience low health literacy at some point in their lives.

Continuous Medicaid Eligibility Ended
March 31 – All beneficiaries need to renew or reapply for coverage in the next year

After 3 years of continuous Medicaid eligibility due to the Public Health Emergency, Medicaid and BadgerCare Plus beneficiaries have not needed to take any action to re-enroll in Medicaid and retain health insurance coverage.  This continuous eligibility ended on March 31, 2023.

All people with Medicaid or BadgerCare Plus coverage will need to renew their benefits sometime between June 2023 and May 2024. 

In Milwaukee County, this equates to nearly 410,000 people or 45% of the population.
It is estimated that as many as 90,000 people may lose their Medicaid health insurance and will need to transition to some other form of health insurance coverage, either an employer-sponsored plan or a Healthcare.gov Marketplace plan.
Learn Your Renewal - 90s

No Surprise Bill Act 2022
NO SURPRISES!!! On 8/19/22, the final No Surprise Bill Act was released. Our Board of Health has been actively engaged in learning more about this and making sure information is available to our community. Here's a little more about what the No Surprise Bill Act includes:
1?? Ban surprise bills for emergency services, out-of-network cost-sharing for emergency and some non-emergency services.
2?? Ban out-of-network charges and balance bills for supplemental care by out-of-network providers who work at certain in-network facilities.
3?? Require that health care providers give you an easy-to-understand notice explaining that getting care out-of-network could be more expensive, and your options to avoid balance bills.

The CDC health literacy website provides information and tools to improve health literacy and public health. These resources are for all organizations that interact and communicate with people about health

Health Information Translations

Multilingual health information materials in many languages, including some American Sign Language resources.

Surgeon General's Advisory on Building a Healthy Information Environment 
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been exposed to a great deal of information; news, public health guidance, fact sheets, research, opinions, rumors and more.  Amid all of this information, many people have also been exposed to health misinformation or disinformation: false, inaccurate, or misleading according to the best available evidence at the time.


Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation
We have the power to shape our information environment, but we must use that power together.  This resource is here to provide a set of tools for you to understand, identify, and stop misinformation, and help others do the same. 

Is This Legit? Accessing Valid and Reliable Health Information 
Applying skills in analyzing, evaluating, and comparing different sources of health information empowers teens to reject misinformation and make choices to access content that is evidence-based and supports their overall health and wellbeing.3 Teens get messages about drugs and alcohol from the news media and social media, as well as their peers, families, and extended social networks.4,5 Health literacy can play a role in how teens interpret messages about alcohol and other substances, and can shape their expectations about what may happen if they consume drugs and alcohol.6