BadgerCare
Secretary Smith and researcher Jon Peacock come to different conclusions on BadgerCare Basic
It took less than a year for a no-frills public health plan for poor Wisconsin adults that was supposed to pay for itself to die. BadgerCare Basic hasn’t come to a complete stop yet, but it’s on life support. On Friday, Secretary Dennis Smith froze enrollment in the program and increased the monthly premiums its 5,900 members pay from $130 to $200, a hike many observers predict will ultimately do the program in. (CAPITAL TIMES, 3/24)
Walker: Medicaid’s “fiscal sustainability” in jeopardy without budget repair bill
Senate Democrats are jeopardizing the long term fiscal sustainability of Wisconsin’s Medicaid program by refusing to vote on the budget repair bill, Governor Scott Walker said today. (WHN, 2/24)
Proposed federal budget threatens future of BadgerCare Basic
The future of BadgerCare Plus Basic could be in jeopardy after President Barack Obama’s proposed budget eliminated a federal grant that helps subsidize the program. It is unlikely lawmakers will add it back to the final budget. (WHN, 2/18)
Cuts to BadgerCare could leave 45,000 adults uninsured
Almost 45,000 adults could lose their medical insurance if Gov. Scott Walker scales back the state’s health care program to help balance the budget, the Oshkosh Northwestern reports. Walker continued a call during his state of the state address on Feb. 1 to reform Medicaid, a social safety net providing health care for the needy, as a means to control costs. (OSHKOSH NORTHWESTERN, 2/14)
Walker likely to propose Medicaid changes in State of the State speech
Gov. Scott Walker is considering state Medicaid reforms that some lawmakers and health advocates fear will mirror the extreme solutions proposed recently by governors across the country, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. Walker is scheduled to deliver his first State of the State address Tuesday, a speech that figures to focus heavily on Wisconsin’s budget troubles. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 2/1)
Health care could take hit in budget
The truest test of Gov. Scott Walker’s promise to make “tough but compassionate decisions” to balance the state budget may be what he proposes for the programs that provide health insurance for roughly 1 million people in Wisconsin. The governor has not indicated how he plans to close a budget deficit estimated at more than $3 billion over the next two fiscal years. But no one expects BadgerCare Plus and Medicaid – the two state health programs for people impoverished or with limited incomes – to go unscathed. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/31)
State health official tells U.S. House panel of shortfall
The state’s health care programs for the poor face a shortfall of $214 million this year and a whopping $1.8 billion more over the next two years, the state’s top health official told a congressional committee Wednesday in high-profile testimony. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/27)
Med Society: Everyone in Wisconsin needs to work together to fix Medicaid
Wisconsin’s Medicaid program — which provides medical benefits to more than a million children, disabled people, elderly and other residents — faces a shortfall of more than a billion dollars. Solving this deficit will not be easy; it will require bipartisan, pragmatic solutions so that those least able to afford health care do not go without, writes Dr. Thomas Luetzow, president of the Wisconsin Medical Society in a opinion editorial for the Wisconsin State Journal. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 1/14)
BadgerCare Plus will be audited
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee is taking on Medicaid as its first order of business. A proposal to audit the state’s Medical Assistance program passed unanimously Wednesday. The $6.7 billion program includes BadgerCare Plus, and provides health care coverage to one out of every five Wisconsin residents. (WHN, 1/12)
Federal Funds Allowed States To Maintain Health Care For Poor Children
Even as states grappled with crippling budget deficits and the political fallout of the deeply divisive health care overhaul, they maintained high rates of coverage for children in low-income families—thanks to enhanced federal Medicaid funding. That’s according to a recently released report by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). (KAISER HEALTH NEWS, 1/12)
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