The federal government today announced that it is awarding Wisconsin a 2012 bonus of $23.3 million for the state’s success in improving children’s access to health care through the BadgerCare program. Wisconsin has also been awarded a supplemental bonus of $8.7 million for 2011, bringing the total of new federal funds to $32 million. More information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services can be found here.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 provides performance bonus payments that pick up a larger share of the costs for states that are successful in cutting red tape and administrative hurdles to enroll significantly more uninsured children in their Medicaid programs.
Wisconsin is one of 23 states receiving performance bonus funding this year. A total of $306 million was awarded to the qualifying states, and Wisconsin’s $23.3 million bonus payment for 2012 is the fourth largest.
This is the fourth year of federal performance bonus awards. Wisconsin did not qualify for a bonus in 2009, but the state made a number of changes in 2010 to improve the BadgerCare Plus renewal process and reduce red tape. Those changes, coupled with simplifications initiated in 2008, made the state eligible for bonus payments in each of the last three years. Wisconsin is likely to qualify for another bonus in 2013, as long as the state does not implement changes that make BadgerCare less accessible for low-wage working parents and their children.
Read more of the WCCF reaction in our press release.
Sara Eskrich
