GOP Motion Includes Correction in Coverage for Pregnant Women, but Doesn’t Remove Harmful Changes for Kids

The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 this afternoon to approve an omnibus Medicaid motion, which approves most of the Governor’s recommendations, including his proposal to cap BadgerCare eligibility for adults at the poverty level, which is half of the current income limit.

The biggest change to the Governor’s plan is that hospitals are being given $15 million GPR per year (in this biennium only), which captures $21.8 million of federal funds each year – for a total of $73.6 million over the biennium. The increased spending for hospitals is an acknowledgement by the committee that there will be more uninsured people under Walker’s plan, which means increased uncompensated care provided by the hospitals. As I explained in a blog post on Sunday, I don’t have a problem with that amendment – but it makes it even clearer that the Governor’s plan costs state taxpayers a whole lot more, yet it gives far fewer people access to affordable insurance and preventative care.Here are some key facts about the omnibus motion:

• It will cover almost 85,000 fewer people than the compromise motion the Democrats offered (which would have covered childless adults and parents to 133% of FPL).
• With the addition of $30 million GPR for hospitals, the Governor’s plan costs state taxpayers $149 million GPR more in the 2013-15 biennium.
• From January 2014 through the end of fiscal year 2021, the amended plan is expected to cost about $490 million GPR more than the compromise of covering adults to 133% of the poverty level.
• Compared to the amount of state funding the Governor included in the bill for his plan, the committee added about $106 million GPR today.
• It retains measures in the bill that could eventually cause about 29,000 children to lose their BadgerCare coverage. (Read more here.)
• It includes various corrections that DHS requested after the budget was introduced, including maintaining current BadgerCare coverage of pregnant women.

The omnibus motion also includes a number of far less significant measures. For the most part it follows the Governor’s recommendations, with just technical changes. One of the more notable changes is that it deletes the provisions relating to the Medical Assistance Purchase Plan (MAPP), described in LFB paper #326.  Advocates for people with disabilities had supported one part of those changes and opposed another part.

After the Finance Committee wraps up its work on the budget late today (or tomorrow?), the bill goes to the Assembly, where it where we expect it to be voted on during the week of June 17. The BadgerCare portions will probably be approved easily there. What will happen in the Senate is a bit less clear. The moderate Republican Senators on the committee didn’t say anything during the spirited debate today, though all 12 GOP committee members voted for the motion. 

Jon Peacock