NEWS ISSUE OF THE MONTH
WHY WISCONSIN NEEDS TO
Expand BadgerCare BY EVAN GOYKE
T
he most important single issue in the current state budget debate is again the decision to expand BadgerCare. This is not a new issue, and many readers will be familiar with the policy. However, the recent passage of the American Rescue Plan Act in Washington has increased the urgency of this decision. Here’s how it all works. Passed back in 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has cut the number of uninsured Americans in half. One way the ACA accomplished this was through incentives to states to expand Medicaid eligibility to cover more people. States that expand eligibility for Medicaid, called BadgerCare in Wisconsin, receive a larger share of federal funds to administer the program. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia have taken advantage of this to date.
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This decision is specifically about “childless adults”—individuals between 18-64. We currently cover a single person earning about $12,500 a year. The expansion would cover a single person earning about $17,700 a year. These are working people, but still living in poverty. This is not a welfare program; it’s a health insurance program. Roughly 90,000 people would become newly eligible for the program and about half of those currently have no health insurance at all. Increasing the federal government’s share of this program is a big deal. Over the next two years it is estimated that expansion will save the state roughly $630 million. When the federal share goes up, the state’s goes down, which frees this money to be used elsewhere. Governor Evers’ proposed budget reinvests these savings within our healthcare systems in ways that benefit all Wisconsinites.
INCENTIVES TO ACT NOW That’s more than enough to get my vote, but Congress has upped the stakes. As part of the American Rescue Plan Act, the 12 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid eligibility will receive an even larger incentive if they do so now. This larger incentive comes again in the form of an increased federal share of the program and is estimated to reduce the state’s share by roughly $1 billion over the next two years. This is one time money, available only now and only through expanding BadgerCare. And while this is one-time money, it is our money and we are free to use it, save it, or invest it as we see fit. Add those numbers together and the single decision to expand BadgerCare is a $1.63 billion decision. That’s $1,630,000,000.
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