The Joint Finance Committee co-chairs give a glimpse of proposed Medicaid changes. Prior to a hearing on the issue, State Representative Robin Vos tells reporters the Walker administration’s changes to Medicaid are reasonable reforms.
He says unless you meet four criteria, you will continue to stay on BadgerCare. Those are – if you don’t pay your premium, you are above 200-percent of the federal poverty level, you are not a Wisconsin resident or you have an option of affordable private insurance.
Vos believes the economy will stabilize in the near future which will lead to a substantial number of people being able to get off BadgerCare and onto private insurance plans.
Meantime the Republican Vos says senior citizens and the disabled will see no change in benefits.
State Senator Alberta Darling says without these reforms, the state will be forced to drop 50,000 Wisconsinites from the program.
However critics like Robert Kraig with Citizen Action of Wisconsin cite a Fiscal Bureau analysis showing – that under the proposal – nearly 68,000 people would lose BadgerCare coverage.
The finance panel is taking up the changes today. The finalized plan will be sent to the federal government for approval.
