{"id":2351046,"date":"2024-10-05T07:37:11","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T11:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/medicaid-expansion-in-wisconsin-could-reduce-state-health-care-spending-report-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-05T07:39:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-05T11:39:36","slug":"medicaid-expansion-in-wisconsin-could-reduce-state-health-care-spending-report-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/medicaid-expansion-in-wisconsin-could-reduce-state-health-care-spending-report-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin could reduce state health care spending: Report &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmedicaid-expansion-in-wisconsin-could-reduce-state-health-care-spending-report-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2351046&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum suggests that expanding Medicaid in Wisconsin\u200b could \u200dlead to a reduction in state healthcare spending.\u200c The report discusses the potential benefits and drawbacks of fully adopting\u200b Medicaid \u2062expansion\u200d under the Affordable Care \u2064Act (ACA). Currently,\u2063 the state has a low\u2064 uninsured rate, meaning that the expansion may only affect 70,000 to 90,000 additional individuals, with many already having some form of\u200b coverage.<\/p>\n<p>The ACA stipulates that states increasing income eligibility for Medicaid to 138% of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oakland-to-enroll-600-families-of-color-in-guranteed-income-pilot-program\/\" title=\"Oakland to Enroll 600 Families of Color in \u2018Guranteed Income\u2019 Pilot Program\">federal poverty level<\/a> for adults\u2062 aged 19-64 would receive substantial\u200b federal subsidies,\u200b covering 90% of\u2062 costs for these new enrollees. In contrast to \u200cother non-expanded states projected to incur \u200bsignificant costs for a larger number of \u2063new enrollees, Wisconsin could save an estimated $261 million in Medicaid spending in 2024 \u200cdue to the \u200dunique structure of its current program and the high matching rate of federal\u200b funding. \u200dJason Stein, president of the Wisconsin\u2064 Policy Forum,\u200b noted \u2063that Wisconsin is positioned to realize cost \u2064savings due to \u2062its near-complete coverage under the program coupled with \u200bthis advantageous federal \u2064support.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin could reduce state health care spending: Report<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1776978\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash;&nbsp;Expanding Medicaid coverage in Wisconsin would lower the state&rsquo;s spending on Medicaid but could adversely impact some healthcare providers, a recent report finds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>During a forum held on Friday, the Wisconsin Policy Forum discussed its most recent health care report on how the pros and cons of fully expanding Medicaid health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wispolicyforum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/PictureOfHealth_FullReport.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>expansion would only cover<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;around 70,000 to 90,000 people because Wisconsin already has the lowest uninsured rate out of the 10 remaining nonexpansion states. More than half of the residents in the target group for Medicaid expansion already are enrolled in the program.<\/p>\n<p>But those new enrollees would likely receive better coverage than they currently have in terms of costs and benefits, the report found.<\/p>\n<p>The ACA provides states with subsidies when they increase their Medicaid income eligibility threshold to 138% of the federal poverty level for adults ages 19 to 64. The subsidies stipulate that the federal government will pay 90% of the costs of the additional recipients.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the nine other states which have not expanded their Medicaid programs, where full Medicaid expansion would require them to spend an average of $193.7 million more per year to cover the hundreds of thousands of added enrollees, Wisconsin would actually lower its current state spending on Medicaid by a projected $261 million in 2024.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Since 90% is a much higher matching rate than the 60.7% currently provided for Medicaid spending in Wisconsin, and the number of people who would be covered by the expansion is relatively low, expanding Medicaid would allow the state to lower its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-calls-travel-lid-for-wednesday-an-hour-after-bobulinski-interview-airs\/\" title=\"Biden Calls Travel Lid for Wednesday an Hour After Bobulinski Interview Airs\">health care costs<\/a> by taking advantage of the ACA subsidies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Wisconsin is the only state that would see significant savings in Medicaid spending,&rdquo; Wisconsin Policy Forum President Jason Stein said Friday. &ldquo;And that has to do with the fact that we&rsquo;ve really essentially gone most of the way to expanding the program, but just at a higher cost-sharing rate for state taxpayers. Whereas other states would need to kick in a significant amount of state tax dollars to expand the program.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>However, the change would deal a blow to state residents, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-doctor-who-conned-women-into-hysterectomies-sterilizations-for-insurance-money-gets-60-years-in-prison\/\" title=\"Virginia Doctor Who Conned Women Into Hysterectomies, Sterilizations For Insurance Money Gets 60 Years In Prison\">health care insurers<\/a> and providers because they would no longer receive substantial tax credits from the ACA.<\/p>\n<p>Health care providers in the state could be adversely affected by the change, since they receive reduced reimbursements for patients on Medicaid, and about 23,000 Wisconsinites would be newly enrolled in Medicaid by the expansion.<\/p>\n<p>To address this problem, the Wisconsin Policy Forum said the estimated $1.7 billion savings from state expansion over the next two years could be spent to boost Medicaid reimbursement rates to providers. The state could also spend the extra money on non-healthcare services or used to reduce taxes, or some combination of healthcare and other priorities.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We can both spend some of the money to support our health care industry, and do other things,&rdquo; Medicaid Director at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Bill Hanna said on the call. &ldquo;This 1.7 billion dollars can be invested in anything that&rsquo;s important to Wisconsinites &ndash; that could be roads, that could be schools, that could be health care, that could be tax cuts.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1776978\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1776978\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wisconsin&#8217;s Medicaid expansion may cut state healthcare costs, report says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2351047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24109662434793-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[42395,11975,42396,4124],"class_list":["post-2351046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-healthcare-spending","tag-medicaid","tag-state-policy","tag-wisconsin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24109662434793-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2351046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2351047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2351046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2351046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2351046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}