Wisconsin wins waiver on BadgerCare expansion

 Wisconsin has just received approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to create a public-private hybrid for expanding its number of low-income residents who are able to obtain healthcare insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

The plan calls for expanding BadgerCare, Wisconsin's state Medicaid program, to cover 83,000 more low-income residents.

BadgerCare currently covers adults earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level. The plan proposed by Gov. Scott Walker rolls eligibility back to 100% of the poverty level, then place some 77,000 residents with income between 101% and 200% onto the exchange. Coverage could then be obtained for as little as $19 a month.

“For the first time in our state's history, everyone living in poverty will have access to health care through Medicaid in 2014,” Walker said in a statement. “Wisconsin has a long history of providing quality care to its residents. Our reforms maintain Medicaid as a safety net for our state's most vulnerable and ensure there is no gap in health care coverage in Wisconsin.”

Walker's plan expands coverage without accepting additional federal funding to expand its Medicaid program. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government would pay 100% of the cost to expand Medicaid to 138% of the poverty level for the first three years of the program, and 90% in the years after. But 25 states, most with Republican governors such as Walker, have rejected the funding.

Walker's proposal has drawn criticism from some quarters, saying that many Wisconsinites earn too little to pay both the premiums and the co-payments and deductibles for such plans.

Indeed, approval of Walker's plan was made by the feds grudgingly.

“This policy is unfortunately not the long-term solution we would like to see,” Elizabeth Schinderle, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “As a result of the governor's decision to not expand Medicaid coverage, many people in Wisconsin will not have access to affordable coverage because of state-imposed limits on enrollment. We urge Wisconsin to fix this avoidable gap in coverage by expanding Medicaid and taking advantage of generous federal funding.”

The waiver granted by the feds will be in place until the end of 2018.