4-4-19 wisconsin budget-the latest

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican members of the Legislature’s budget-writing committee are taking apart Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal to expand Medicaid coverage.  Evers’ state budget calls for accepting federal Medicaid expansion, a move that would add about 82,000 low-income people to Medicaid rolls. The state would save about $320 million over the next two years thanks to an infusion of federal dollars.  The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee began deliberations on the budget with agency briefings Wednesday. The committee’s co-chairman, Republican Rep. John Nygren, took state Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm to task on the expansion.  He noted that half of the 82,000 potential new enrollees already have private health insurance and raised doubts about whether those enrollees would be able to keep their current doctors. He added he’s concerned about removing 40,000 people from the private insurance marketplace and the instability that would create.  Palm countered that Evers is trying to give people access to health care. She said that many of the people who would be covered by the expansion are already moving between private insurance and Medicaid as they change jobs, creating instability.