Nationally and here in Wisconsin,
possible cuts to the health care
program known as Medicaid have
sparked fear in the low-income
families, elderly residents, and
people with disabilities who depend
on it.
At a public hearing in West Dallas,
lawmakers on the state legislature's
Joint Finance heard from
many about why Medicaid needs
to be saved.
Medicaid programs allow persons with
disabilities to live a dignified
life.
Medicaid really supports a healthy
Wisconsin.
We have about half a million
children in Wisconsin covered by
Medicaid, which is about a third of
Wisconsin's kids.
People are going to lose their
insurance, rural and low-income
hospitals will close, and people
will die.
Impassioned public testimony on
Medicaid before the State Budget
Writing Committee and now that
Congress has passed its budget
blueprint, work begins in earnest
in Washington to enact major
tax cuts paid for with sharp
reductions in federal programs
that could hit the health care
program.
As to Medicaid in Wisconsin,
we turn to Bobby Peterson,
Executive Director of ABC for
Health, a non-profit public interest
law firm.
helping consumers navigate the
healthcare system.
And Bobby, nice to see you again.
Thanks for inviting me.
So one point that you really want to
make clear is that Cups to
Medicaid have not happened
yet.
With that in mind, what's your
guidance?
Well, I think it's, you know, don't
panic, but let your voice be
heard. I mean, Wisconsin,
people know that Medicaid is a very
important program. It covers one in
five people in our state.
So that's families, friends,
neighbors, a lot of folks out there
that have potentially affected
by this.
But it hasn't changed yet.
And there's opportunities to help
influence the process,
hopefully make it better and
to avoid some of the serious.
issues that we're concerned about
and worried about, but I
think we're gonna do our best to try
and stave them off.
So what kinds of coverage
does Medicaid represent?
It covers long-term care
for seniors.
It covers people with disabilities.
It covers a lot of kids on
BadgerCare Plus, some parents,
childless adults.
So it's broad and
wide. And so I think if
you, most
of our viewers will know someone who
is getting Medicaid services.
This affects every corner of the
state.
Why are people sounding the
alarm on potential cuts?
Is that overstated?
No, I think it's important.
And even though it's
characterized sometimes as we're not
going to cut the benefits, just
putting procedural hoops
and hurdles in the path of people,
we've seen this before.
We see it even now, and it could
get worse.
So bureaucratic red tape blockages
to coverage, just making it
harder for people to navigate these
systems without effective
strategies to help people through
that system is the problem.
As you say, the Trump administration
and GOP leaders say they will not
cut Medicaid benefits.
They're going after waste,
fraud, and abuse.
But you were just talking about
bureaucratic kind of red tape.
What could they do around
eligibility requirements or
other things like that to affect
reduction?
Well, for example, they could put in
work requirements for certain
Medicaid programs.
And it's just the process,
the paperwork, getting through it.
People that may be ill, may not be
able to work.
Just going through that process
deters people, knocks them off
to the side.
They lose coverage, and they're not
getting important health care and
coverage that they need, with the
consequence of running up medical
bills and medical debt, which is
something that we really want to try
and avoid.
Now Wisconsin, as you know,
never expanded Medicaid and
expanded Medicaid gave state,
the feds gave states 90%
of those costs.
Wisconsin never expanded it,
so our share from the fed's is
60%.
But with any reductions to
Medicaid, could it still blow up,
you know kind of the state budget?
I mean, I think that it
depends what
Wisconsin, how we react to
it, you know. But I
think for the most part, it's going
to be a situation where people are
going to face most of the pain,
not the budget as much.
Because I think a lot of folks out
there are going to deterred from
getting the care and services that
they need.
Their conditions will worsen,
their health will worson, and their
medical debt will accumulate.
So, if there are cuts,
what are the implications to even
those not covered by Medicaid
when it comes to things like
uncompensated care and hospitals,
rural hospitals?
Sure, I mean, they're under stress
already. Rural hospitals are under
stress. We've seen closures,
rising levels of uncompensated care
make it untenable for
them to continue operations in some
levels, because it's just, you know,
they're not meeting their bottom
line and they can't provide the
services that they need.
Rural hospital are on very thin
margins, most of them.
We know that in Wisconsin,
in 2023, the last year,
that data is available.
There was $1.4 billion in
uncompenseated care.
That's a lot, but that's gonna go
up. And it's gonna affect more
people with more bills and unpaid
bills, it's going to affect
hospitals with unpaid bill, that's
a system issue.
And these are consequences of making
Medicaid more difficult, more
challenging, more bureaucratic
hoops, getting in the way of people
that need the care and coverage and
getting some of those bills paid.
And what does it mean, apart
from uncompensated care to
hospitals, to
people who are not on Medicaid but
otherwise covered by other health
care?
Yeah, it's another one of the
long-term effects with its cost
shifting so if we think about you
know I mean people talk sometimes
about Socialized medicine
I talked sometimes about socialized
medical debt, so if you think about
all that debt That's unpaid.
It doesn't just go away, but it gets
spread out in the system to
everybody else So we all have
a price to pay when people don't
have adequate coverage When
hospitals can't get the bills paid
and so it's an important issue for
us all to think about You don't to
say it well. I'm not a Medicaid.
I shouldn't worry it's going to
affect you at some level and it's
gonna affect a family, friend or a
neighbor most likely.
All right, Bobby Peterson, thanks
very much.
Five not that you you were great,
but it just I felt like that
Maybe it's. We were probably
10 to 20 seconds over.
I get these time
kids, right?
And the time cards just didn't,
but maybe it's just me.
Thanks for reporting on this issue.
I think it's an important one.
I think, you know, it's going to,
people hopefully, you know, the
takeaway message is going to be,
it's affecting everyone in Wisconsin
at some level.
Yeah.
Yes, well, we will see
what happens.
Yeah, okay.
Good talking to you. Thank you.
Careful, especially on this.