Shift from Medicaid 'of good value,' outgoing health secretary says

The 87,000 parents who would be shifted from Medicaid to a health insurance exchange under Gov. Scott Walker's budget "will see the value of what's being offered" and sign up, outgoing health services secretary Dennis Smith said Tuesday. The parents, who make just above the poverty level, would face monthly premiums starting at $19 a month, Smith said. That doesn't include out-of-pocket costs for care, estimated at $1,850 to $4,200 a year. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 2/27)