The Governor's proposed budget would provide $9.9 million GPR over the 2017-'19 biennium, matched by the same amount of federal dollars, to refer 49,200 childless adults in Medicaid to job training and employment assistance services.
For those who are disabled and not working perhaps the state would have more of a vested interest in helping them get employment. We just don't know at this juncture. What the impact will be ..
they're requiring able-bodied childless adults who are unemployed or underemployed to participate.
"As the Governor said, we will help our fellow citizen when they are down and out, but public assistance should be a trampoline, not a hammock. "
Jon Peacock, research director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, predicted that the proposal would "significantly reduce BadgerCare participation," resulting in an increase in the state's uninsured rate and uncompensated care. He cited the state's experience with a similar requirement for able-bodied childless adults in the FoodShare program.
A Department of Health Services report released last year found that 11,971 people found jobs, while 41,149 lost FoodShare benefits after not meeting the requirement between July 2015 and March 2016.
"In the long run, we think restricting BadgerCare participation and impeding access to healthcare could actually reduce workforce participation, rather than boost it," he wrote in an email. "We are especially concerned that this change could undermine our state's efforts to improve access to drug treatment."
Walker calls for $279.4 million more GPR into Medicaid
Governor Scott Walker's budget would put an additional $279.4 million in general purpose revenue into Medicaid next biennium, a lower amount than the Department of Health Services requested last year.
DHS in its budget request last fall asked for an additional $452.6 million GPR for Medicaid. Walker's budget, released last week, attributed the lower request to re-estimates of enrollment, service utilization and inflation.
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