MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Gov. Scott Walker is asking the Trump administration to approve his plans to move more single adults off state BadgerCare Medicaid coverage and into the workforce. The failure of Republicans in U.S. House to replace the federal Affordable Care Act sheds greater light on Walker’s proposal for Wisconsin.
The governor is again rejecting federal money to provide health care to more Wisconsinites and moving ahead with his plans that include screening childless BadgerCare recipients for drugs. If approved it would affect tens of thousands of recipients in Wisconsin.
“Obviously, we were going to do it no matter what,” Walker said of his plan. “But yes, the more we can push reforms that work for Wisconsin … the more we can control our own destiny,” Walker said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (https://bit.ly/2nebLmM ).
Democrats believe Wisconsin should also follow Indiana’s lead in using federal money to expand Medicaid. Democratic Rep. Gordon Hintz told lawmakers on the budget committee Monday that Wisconsin has already missed out on the chance to save $690 million since 2014 and cover more people on BadgerCare.
“We have left hundreds of millions of dollars on the table,” he said.
Walker is against expanding BadgerCare to people with higher incomes, saying it could make people more dependent on the government.
“My goal is not to put more people on Medicaid. My goal is to get people off,” Walker said.
Included in Walker’s plan is a provision to screen Medicaid applicants with questions about illegal drug use and actually test some of them for it. Refusing the test will mean the applicants go at least six months without state coverage. If they test positive, the individuals could receive treatment.
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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, https://www.jsonline.com
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