DHS to increase premium for BadgerCare program

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The premium is increasing again for enrollees in Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus Basic health insurance plan.

The state Department of Health Services says it is raising the monthly premium from $250 to $325 a month beginning in November. The program is for low-income adults with no dependent children who are on a waiting list to get into the more generous BadgerCare Plus Core plan.

Department Secretary Dennis Smith says in a letter to the Legislature’s budget committee that the increase is needed because there is not enough money in the program to pay for it.

When the program started last year premiums were $130 a month and it was expected that the plan would be self-sustaining.

But Smith says rising costs and declining enrollments necessitate the increase.