Medicaid/Medicare
Proposed cuts to family planning could endanger $11M federal grant
Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed family planning cut could threaten an $11 million federal grant for prenatal care, immunizations and other services for women and children, Democratic legislators said Wednesday. But the state Department of Health Services will find another way to meet a state spending requirement to get the federal grant, spokesman Seth Boffeli said. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 4/7)
State health officials hear from both sides of Medicaid debate at public meetings
Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith and Deputy Secretary Kitty Rhoades listened to concerns and suggestions about Medicaid, the state-federal health plan for the poor. Medicaid has an annual budget of $6.7 billion, roughly 60 percent from federal money, and covers 1.2 million people in Wisconsin, or one in five residents. It includes BadgerCare Plus, Family Care, SeniorCare and other services. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 4/6)
State Health head outlines possible changes to Medicaid programs
The state should curb the cost of the most expensive people on Medicaid by paying flat fees for more elderly and disabled patients and those with diabetes and mental illness, the head of the health department said. To trim $500 million from the state’s health care services for the poor over the next two years, Wisconsin should also require more people on Medicaid to pay co-payments and premiums and increase the fees for those who already do, said Dennis Smith, secretary of the Department of Health Services. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 3/23)
$134 million Medicaid budget gap remains unplugged
Wisconsin’s $134 million budget gap in Medicaid for this year, which Gov. Scott Walker’s original budget repair bill would have plugged, remains under the version of the bill Walker signed. “We need to get that fixed,” said Dennis Smith, secretary of the state Department of Health Services. “The alternative is we run out of money and providers don’t get paid.” (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 3/23)
Medicaid changes will impact local providers
Changes to Medicaid approved in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill likely signal changes in coverage and funding for the state’s health programs for the low-income and disabled. Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital CEO Larry Schroeder said he expects a reduction in both funding and coverage for Medicaid, a state-federal program that covers 1.2 million people in Wisconsin. (SAUK PRAIRIE EAGLE, 3/17)
State official wants to keep Medicaid drug coverage, shift patients to managed care
Wisconsin should keep optional Medicaid services such as drug coverage and shift costly patients into managed care, the state’s health services secretary told health care advocates Tuesday. Dennis Smith, who heads the Department of Health Services, vowed to be transparent about Medicaid changes, even though Gov. Scott Walker’s stalled budget repair bill would give Smith new powers to reshape the state-federal health plan for the poor with less legislative review than required now. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 3/9)
Budget aims to end growth of Medicaid programs in state
Wisconsin would cut Medicaid spending by $500 million over the next two years, with much of the savings coming from Family Care, under Gov. Scott Walker’s budget released Tuesday. But state Medicaid spending still would go up overall because the state must pay $1.3 billion over the two years to replace federal stimulus money that has been supporting the program. That money ends this year. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 3/2)
Budget would make benefits cuts to Medicaid, W-2, Wisconsin Shares
About 55,000 people could lose their health insurance under the state’s BadgerCare program, under Gov. Scott Walker’s budget plan released Tuesday. Walker’s budget also would shrink aid to Wisconsin Works participants and could mean reduced state child care subsidies to low-income families. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/2)
Advocacy groups decry proposed Medicaid changes
Advocacy groups ranging from Disability Rights Wisconsin to Mental Health America of Wisconsin to AARP Wisconsin are opposing Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to give his administration the freedom to revamp BadgerCare Plus and other Medicaid programs with minimal oversight from the Legislature. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/1)
Taxpayers Alliance Report: State Medicaid enrollment soaring
Medicaid enrollment has soared more in Wisconsin than in any other state but Arizona in recent years, putting pressure on the state budget, according to a report released by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 2/28)
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