WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |Shilling holds hearing on BadgerCare cuts

LA CROSSE,WI (WXOW)--A proposal to drop thousands of people from Wisconsin's BadgerCare program was the focus of a public hearing Friday at UW-L.

Senator Jennifer Shilling hosted a public hearing with Rep. Steve Doyle and Rep. Chris Danou at the Cartwright Center. 

The public hearing was in response to the Department of Health Services' plan to make $554 million dollars in cuts to the state's health care programs directly effecting seniors, children, families and people with disabilities.

Shilling and the other legislators took feedback from the area residents on how this proposal would affect them.  At the beginning of the public hearing a presentation was given outlining how these BadgerCare cuts would affect as they put it, 'our most vulnerable citizens.'

The proposal by the Walker Administration would Drop Health Coverage for some, reduce health services available, and increase out-of-pocket costs for Wisconsin families.

Senator Shilling said, "The number of people that are enrolled in the Medicaid budget is approximately one out of five citizens in Wisconsin. So about 20 percent of the people find themselves in a program that's BadgerCare, Senior Care, Family Care or some other program that's in the Medicaid budget. So these proposed cuts could have sweeping changes to many of family members community members, neighbors, community people that we know that currently find themselves enrolled in one of these programs."

If the Department of Health Services does not receive a waiver of 'maintenance of effort' from the Federal Government by December 31, 2011, this plan will automatically require the department of Health Services to drop BadgerCare coverage for about 53,000 parents, and 6,000 child-less adults.

The way Sara Finger from the Save BadgerCare Coalition described it was as 'a lose-lose situation for the middle to lower class.'

The State Department of Health Services estimates about 55,000 adults covered by BadgerCare Plus have household income above 133% of the poverty level. Ending their coverage would save an estimated $90 million dollars in state funds over two years time.