When it comes to health insurance coverage, Wisconsin receives a B in comparison to other states, but only because it’s graded on a curve. The state’s 9.5 percent uninsured rate falls considerably below the national average of 16.7, but that’s not much consolation to residents who remain uninsured or who are covered by skimpy policies with big deductibles and co-pays.

The Census Bureau reports that the number of uninsured in the U.S. jumped 10 percent to 51 million people in 2009. This is the greatest jump since data have been collected. The jump would have been more than 20 percent if not for public programs like BadgerCare.

No other rich nation experiences such high levels of people without access to health care and the resultant suffering and death. For example, a study in the American Journal of Public Health shows that in the United States nearly 45,000 deaths annually can be linked to lack of health insurance. That’s over 120 preventable deaths every day.