Big Medicaid changes could affect 200,000 in state

More than 200,000 Wisconsinites could be affected by sweeping Medicaid changes proposed to address a half-billion dollar shortfall in state health care programs. Some 215,000 children and adults would be shifted to lower-cost state plans, state officials announced Friday.

The state budget, signed in June, directed the Department of Health Services to identify nearly $445 million in savings. But agency officials say that in order to balance the program's budget, they will need to cut spending by about $554.4 million. And officials warned that the deficit could get worse.

A major part of the proposal calls for asking the federal government for a waiver that would allow the state to change health care eligibility requirements, which were established by the 2010 federal health care law.

That waiver would allow Wisconsin to make a series of changes, such as restricting eligibility for people if they have access to employer-based insurance, requiring young adults to join their parents' insurance rather than BadgerCare Plus and increasing copayments and premiums for a number of program participants.

Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith warned Friday that some 53,000 adults could be dropped from coverage altogether if the federal government does not approve the waiver being requested.

"We believe that our proposals themselves are fair, they are focused, and they are simply common-sense things," Smith said.

The ranking Democrat on the Assembly's health committee criticized the proposals, accusing Gov. Scott Walker's administration of trying to balance the budget at the expense of struggling families.

"Once again the Walker administration is asking working families to be the only ones to sacrifice to balance the state budget," said Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee. "Now they are delivering health care sticker shock to thousands of Wisconsin families who are already barely making it."

Smith said the cuts would not affect children, pregnant women, people with disabilities or those below the federal poverty level. But DHS officials didn't immediately provide an estimate of how many people could be affected by its proposals.

Jon Peacock, project director for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, predicted that the proposals would force many struggling families who cannot afford private coverage off of BadgerCare.

"Thousands of families will end up uninsured, will have to rely on emergency rooms as their primary source of care, and the health care system gets less efficient and effective," Peacock said. "It isn't truly cost savings, it's cost shifting."

A public hearing will be held about the changes, which still need to be reviewed by the Legislature's budget committee and, in some cases, the federal government.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(c)2011 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)

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