Contact: Aaron Collins, 608-266-2254
MADISON – This week, the Department of Health Services (DHS) released county-by-county data on the impacts of Medicaid expansion. Statewide, expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would cover an additional 82,000 individuals, save state taxpayers $324 million over the biennium, and draw down an additional $1.6 billion to invest into new initiatives to improve health care access and quality. Representative Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) applauded the Governor’s Medicaid expansion proposal and the improved health care outcomes it would provide in Winnebago County.
“Medicaid expansion is a winner for Winnebago County. An additional 2,010 people in Winnebago County would be covered under the Governor’s proposal. The increased funding would also provide resources to help retain physicians, address the personal care worker shortage, and increase dental access,” Rep. Hintz stated. “Medicaid expansion is also the fiscally responsible thing to do for our county and state. The taxpayer savings and additional federal funds are crucial to creating a health care system that works for everyone. Expansion also frees up state resources to fund other priorities like special needs education and the UW System. These are our federal tax dollars. We should be bringing them home like 36 other states do, not rejecting them for ideological reasons.”
Medicaid expansion would allow for the following investments in Winnebago County:
- $18.1 million which would expand health care coverage to an estimated 2,010 Winnebago County residents.
- $971,000 to expanding access to behavioral health, including crisis intervention and telehealth services.
- $1.3 million to prevent childhood lead poisoning through lead abatement and supporting children with lead poisoning through the Birth to 3 Program.
- $991,000 for improving access to dental services by increasing payments to dental providers, including those who serve people with disabilities, and expanding the Seal-A-Smile program.
- $1.9 million for Enhancing Medicaid benefits and services, including support for the new community health benefit and postpartum coverage for new mothers.
- $1.5 million to increase funding for physicians.
- $11.2 million to increase hospital funding.
- $1.7 million which would increase funding for providers in long-term care programs and services—including Family Care, IRIS, and nursing homes—and boosting personal care worker wages.
- $17.7 million for continuing coverage to current Medicaid, BadgerCare Plus, SeniorCare, and FoodShare Employment and Training program members, and permanently ending the waitlist to serve all eligible children in the Children’s Long-Term Support Waiver Program.
- $48.5 million for the DHS 24/7 direct care and treatment facilities such as Winnebago Mental Health Institute.
- $150,000 to support the Mental Health Consultation program, conditional and supervised release, and the Dispatcher Assisted Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation program.
“Luckily, it’s not too late to do the right thing. It is my hope that legislators from both sides of the aisle come together to do what is best for our state and for Winnebago County by supporting Governor Evers’ budget and accepting the Medicaid expansion. Any local legislator who doesn’t support this important budget provision should be asked why they are voting against the best interests of their community.”