Following the suspension of the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan a month ago, committees from both chambers of the Legislature began brainstorming ways Tuesday to solve the health care needs of Wisconsin’s low-income residents.

The Senate Committee on Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief and Revenue, and the Assembly Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform hosted the informational meeting on BadgerCare Plus Core Plan, a program that provides affordable health care to low-income, childless adults.

The program was forced to cease enrollment and implement a waiting list in early October due to a large rush of applicants and a limited capacity for aid.

Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, chair of the Assembly committee, said the purpose of the meeting was for the committees and the public to hear possible solutions to the enrollment situation from representatives of the Medicaid division of the Department of Health Services.

“I want to applaud the department for coming forward with at least some outlines of ways to step forward to address the situation,” Richards said. “The question we face as a state is how do we address people on this waiting list? Do we leave them out in the cold or do we provide them some care?”

Jason Helgerson, Medicaid director at DHS, said the agency is collaborating with other groups and thinking creatively for ways to address the growing need for the affordable health care offered by BadgerCare Plus.

Helgerson said some of the cost solutions for the program include more selective treatment coverage, limited hospital stays and outpatient visits, and no hospital visits until a certain deductible is met. These options, he said, limit the cost per member to approximately $100 per month.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, raised a question concerning plan members who could possibly be in the hospital with a serious health problem and might not be covered under the new options.

In that case, Helgerson said, the person would be treated like any other uninsured patient and either has to pay the bill or the hospital could choose to cover the costs under a charitable program.

“The bottom line here is that if you want to stay in the ballpark of $100, you have to have a pretty restrictive benefit without some other source of subsidy dollars,” Helgerson said.

Both committees plan on continuing these public hearings, continuing to look for the best solution to the over-enrollment problem.