ICYMI: “Medicaid Cuts Eyed By Congress Could Cost Wisconsin $6.4 Billion, Report Says”
MADISON, Wis. — New reporting from the Wisconsin State Journal today highlighted the devastating impact Republican cuts to Medicaid could have on Wisconsin. According to the new report, Wisconsin could lose billions of dollars in federal funding and at least 52,000 Wisconsinites could lose Medicaid coverage, putting children, nursing home residents, and people with disabilities at risk.
Wisconsin Democrats have continuously worked to expand Medicaid coverage, but Republicans are working in the opposite direction to strip Wisconsinites of the health care coverage they desperately need. Just this year, Derrick Van Orden joined every Wisconsin House Republican in voting for a budget that would cut as much as $880 billion from Medicaid. Wisconsin Democratic leaders like Governor Tony Evers and Senator Tammy Baldwin will not stop fighting to protect Medicaid because Wisconsinites deserve to have access to affordable and high-quality health care.
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL: Medicaid Cuts Eyed By Congress Could Cost Wisconsin $6.4 Billion, Report Says
By: David Wahlberg
Wisconsin could lose more than $6.4 billion in federal Medicaid funds over the next decade, face nearly $160 million more in annual costs and see at least 52,000 people lose coverage, under cuts being considered by Congress, state health officials Monday.
As Congress begins to hash out details of a budget bill to slash $1.5 trillion in spending over 10 years, including $880 billion mostly from Medicaid, the state Department of Health Services released a report quantifying the impact of three possible Medicaid reductions.
Medicaid, the state-federal health program for people with low incomes, covers about 20% of state residents, including 40% of births, 38% of children and 60% of people in nursing homes. Under federal cuts, the state would have to add state spending, cover fewer people or services, or cut rates to providers, moves that would have a substantial impact, said Bill Hanna, state Medicaid director.
“We can’t have a healthy and strong Wisconsin without a healthy and strong Medicaid program,” Hanna said. “Massive cuts like those proposed by Congress would put our people, our health care system, and our economy at risk.”
Congress hasn’t specified how it will meet the Medicaid savings target but is expected to debate the details over the next few weeks. Some Republicans say the cuts can mostly be achieved by reducing fraud and abuse while some Democrats say essential services for vulnerable populations are threatened.
“We’re all trying to read the tea leaves of what will and won’t happen,” Hanna said. “We think it’s important … that people are using Wisconsin-based numbers to talk about impacts to Wisconsin.”
One proposal under discussion is a per-person cap on federal Medicaid spending. It would replace the current system, in which spending is shared by states and the federal government, with a higher federal share to poorer states and no limit. Wisconsin’s federal share is 61%.
Under a per-person cap, Wisconsin would lose $6.4 billion to $16.8 billion over the next decade, based on three possible scenarios, the new state report says.
A similar analysis in February by KFF, a nonpartisan health care research organization, estimated Wisconsin’s loss at $5.8 billion but said the total could be nearly double.
Another proposal would require some people on Medicaid, mostly childless adults, to work or train for a job. Wisconsin passed a work requirement under former Republican Gov. Scott Walker that was approved by the first Trump administration in 2018. It was put on hold the next year by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and unauthorized by the Biden administration in 2021.
Many people on Medicaid would be exempt from the requirement because they are elderly or disabled, and many others are already working, according to KFF. But training and administrative expenses could cost the state $65.6 million a year, the DHS report said. The challenge of reporting hours and wages could put 52,000 childless adults at risk of losing coverage, the report said.
“It’s not like these people disappear,” Hanna said. “They still need care. Now they just won’t have the insurance.”
Another proposal, to reduce the federal match for administrative services, such as computer systems to check people’s eligibility for coverage, could cost the state $93 million a year, the report said. The cut also could make it harder to police the program.
“Combating fraud continues to be a top priority for DHS, and these changes would make it difficult to run Medicaid efficiently and effectively, and to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse,” the report said.
The DHS report doesn’t address an additional proposal Congress has discussed, to eliminate the 90% federal match for people covered by the Medicaid expansion allowed under the Affordable Care Act, or those with incomes up to 138% of the poverty level.
Wisconsin only partly expanded coverage, to 100% of the poverty level for childless adults previously not covered, so it gets the regular 61% match. It’s the only one of 10 states that haven’t adopted the allowable Medicaid expansion that has no gap in coverage for people below the poverty line.
Since Wisconsin hasn’t fully expanded Medicaid, any expansion-related spending cut Congress might pass wouldn’t affect the state. But Hanna said the state still should pursue full expansion because it would cover about 96,000 more people and bring in nearly $2 billion over two years.
The Republican-controlled Legislature has repeatedly refused Medicaid expansion. A report in February by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty argued the move would increase costs for people with private insurance.
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