Wisconsin Medicaid cuts go to lawmakers

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has handed over a proposal to cut about a half-billion dollars from Wisconsin’s Medicaid costs to the Legislature’s finance committee.

The state Department of Health Services released a package of reforms in September that would tighten eligibility requirements. One of the plan’s provisions calls for shifting more than 200,000 families enrolled in BadgerCare Plus into so-called benchmark plans that offer fewer benefits.

The agency held two public hearings on the plan and took public comments online. The package the agency submitted to the committee late Monday afternoon contained a number of revisions, including discounts on premiums based on family payments for private health insurance.

Messages left at the finance committee co-chairs’ offices weren’t immediately returned.