Wisconsin

Wisconsin:  Keeping Kids Healthy: Maintaining Enrollment in Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus Program

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is leading the Keeping Kids Healthy: Maintaining Enrollment in Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus Program project as a grantee of the Maximizing Enrollment program. The Department of Health Services administers Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus program, which encompasses the state’s children’s coverage programs including Medicaid and its Medicaid expansion State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In February 2008, the state implemented the BadgerCare Plus program creating two benefits plans. The Standard Plan provides coverage for children and parents with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and the Benchmark Plan provides coverage for children in families with incomes up to 300% of the FPL and requires sliding scale premiums. Families with incomes above 300% of the FPL can purchase coverage for their uninsured children at the full premium cost. Wisconsin streamlined eligibility for the BadgerCare Plus program hoping to make it easy for families to understand and enroll. As a grantee of the Maximizing Enrollment program, Wisconsin anticipates developing a new system that would allow the state to complete eligibility reviews online to further reduce renewal barriers.

Click here for a profile of Wisconsin’s Medicaid and CHIP programs and to learn about the state’s enrollment and renewal simplification strategies.

“Wisconsin is fully committed to identifying reasons that children lose eligibility, and developing strategies to help children and families maintain their health insurance without gaps in coverage.” – Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, 2008