For over a year, we’ve been expecting changes to BadgerCare Plus. On Friday, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approved a portion of the Walker Administration’s requested changes. Though we’ve been updating you through the blog on what we expected to be approved, the final agreement is in and we’ve prepared a new summary. Stay tuned, however, because the Alternative Benchmark proposal (which would result in higher premiums and limited benefits for more than 300,000 participants) is still being reviewed.

Today, WCCF is releasing a 2-page overview of the approved changes to BadgerCare for adults over 133 percent of the federal poverty level. It also notes which of changes that Wisconsin proposed were not approved by the federal government, including changes that would have caused 29,000 children to lose their BadgerCare coverage. The majority of the approved changes will take effect on July 1, 2012. Restrictions for those with offers of employee coverage, and their spouses, will apply to current BadgerCare participants when they come up for renewal or take a new job.

Here’s a taste of the great information you’ll find in the overview:

Table 1:  Comparison of Original and Revised DHS Proposals for BadgerCare Changes

Policy or impact	Original DHS Proposals	Approved changes
Total # expected to lose BadgerCare coverage	64,748	About 17,000
a) parents	33,750	About 15,600
b) children	29,120	0
c) childless adults	1,392	1,755
d) pregnant women and   newborns	486	0
Total with higher premiums	72,315	About 48,000
Reduction in state General Fund spending	$90 million	$28 million