Fight is on to Save Medicaid Program in Wisconsin

Last week, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services received a performance bonus of $23 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help support the addition of over 85,000 children to the state's Medicaid program, known as BadgerCare. Because of a more efficient process for signing up children and an online renewal option, the agency boosted enrollment by 23 percent in 2010.

The irony of that effort begins this week as the new Republican administration of Scott Walker takes over the governor's office. Vowing on the campaign trail to cut the popular public health assistance program, Walker begins to look for ways to bring the state's serious deficit under control.

Wisconsin's situation is just one example of a struggle that is beginning in many states no longer controlled by Democrats.

With major expansions under outgoing Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, BadgerCare has grown to include 767,000 state residents, including 455,000 children. Coverage had been expanded under Doyle and, interestingly, under BadgerCare founder, former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson. But the program has seen rising costs over the last ten years, and for the 2011-2013 budget, there is a funding shortfall of $300 million.

Proponents of BadgerCare are concerned about the rhetoric they hear from the Walker camp.  

“People should be very worried about BadgerCare because Walker has run on his promise to cut taxes and balance the state budget, which has a $2.5 billion deficit,” says Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin told the Cap Times newspaper after the election. “It’s hard to understand how he can do that without making drastic cuts in BadgerCare.”

For BadgerCare patients, there are some protections from cuts thanks to provisions under the stimulus bill and the Affordable Care Act. For states receiving stimulus funding, they are required to maintain current eligibility standards until at least June 30, 2011. After that, health care reform legislation mandates that no state can cut eligibility for children until 2019 while parents are protected until 2014, when the new health insurance exchanges are scheduled to be available.

However, if states can show that these protections contributed to a budget deficit, they can limit the number of non-parent adult patients to those earning less than 133 percent of the federal poverty line, or $14,400. Currently, Wisconsin residents can apply for assistance with incomes up to 200 precent of the poverty line or $21,710. There is already a waiting list for BadgerCare due to budget constraints, so a reduction of eligibility standards would only add to the list of uninsured.

Groups are already mobilizing to fight any proposed cuts. The Save BadgerCare Coalition held their first meeting in November and plan to continue to fight against any proposed cuts to the program. Join in the fight to save BadgerCare by letting Governor Walker know you don't want to see this critical program on the chopping block.

Photo credit: LADY KATYA