News

Delay in removing ineligible Medicaid recipients costs Wisconsin taxpayers hundreds of millions

By Mark Lisheron

A state Department of Health Services decision to take a year to remove ineligible people from Wisconsin’s Medicaid rolls — much slower than many other states — will cost federal and state taxpayers an estimated $745 million.

And when the disenrollment process is scheduled for completion at the end of May 2024, projections say Medicaid will cover more than 235,000 people more than it did before the pandemic was declared in March 2020.

The monthly cost alone for the ineligible recipients while the disenrollment continues is about $124 million, according to a national study done by the Paragon Health Institute. State taxpayers will be responsible for $47 million of that total every month, according to the study.

Wisconsin was one of more than 30 states that chose to delay the start of disenrollment, which began in some places in April when President Biden, after several postponements, called an end to the pandemic emergency.

Until then, state health departments were prohibited from removing anyone from their Medicaid rolls and that decision, along with the economic chaos wrought by government and business shutdowns, caused the rolls to swell.

Viewpoint

What if Wisconsin stopped making childcare pointlessly costly?

By Patrick McIlheran

Sometimes, the most helpful thing a government can do is to stop being “helpful.”

Gov. Tony Evers may not get this, so he griped Thursday about how the Legislature didn’t heed his summons to show up in a special session and approve his idea to pour fuel onto the bonfire that is childcare costs.

Instead, the Legislature came, refused to make the problem worse, then went back to considering better ideas.

The argument between the Democrat governor and the Republican majorities in the Legislature isn’t over whether parents need some help with costly childcare — which, if you use center-based care, can be more expensive than college tuition, a report noted Thursday.

Rather, it’s how to help, and over the meaning of “temporary.”

At a Glance

New analysis from the Tax Foundation considers how “The state EV taxation landscape reflects the evolving transportation sector and the pressing need to address both fiscal gaps in road funding and environmental concerns.”

Badger Events

Join us Thursday, October 12 for the Badger Institute Annual Dinner. Rep. Mike Gallagher will deliver keynote remarks on democracy, freedom and the threat of the Chinese Communist Party.

• Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts | Brookfield, WI

• 5:00 p.m. VIP cocktail reception with buffet-style dinner

• 5:30 p.m. general admission cocktail reception with buffet-style dinner

• 6:30 p.m. presentation and keynote remarks

Sponsorship opportunities are available, along with general registration and VIP meet-and-greet tickets.

Distinguished Speakers at CUW

The Free Enterprise Center at Concordia University is hosting a series of speakers this fall, including former governor Scott Walker, Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley and John Koskinen, Chief Economist for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Topics include capitalism and Christian identity, why Thomas Sowell matters, and the current state of Wisconsin’s economy.

Series schedule and registration

Weekly Survey: Medicaid accounts for what percent of Wisconsin’s state budget?

Previous Poll Results:

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