The State’s Joint Finance Committee passed a proposed change in Medicare and Medicaid aimed at reducing the budget deficit that may leave tens of thousands of Wisconsin residents uninsured.

Approved after a lengthy debate at a hearing Thursday, the plan, proposed by the Department of Health Services, would restrict BadgerCare eligibility from adults under 26 who are covered by their parents’ major medical coverage.

The JFC passed the vote 11 to 7. The bill was later approved through for further discussion by both houses in later legislative sessions. The vote was predominately split down party lines.

It would also call for a cap of 5 percent of total income on monthly premiums for coverage while raising co-pays, according to a DHS statement.

The proposed changes to BadgerCare would save money and help repair the deficit that has been created and partially attributed to faults in the current DHS system, according to the statement.

DHS Secretary Dennis Smith said during the hearing the only changes they are making would be the premium and co-pay changes along with the coverage for people under 26.

“There are still groups, the mentally ill and early-diagnosed children, that we still care very much about and are not harming with this plan,” he said.

According to findings from the Legislative Finance Council and a release from the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, the proposed plan would prevent 64,000 Wisconsin residents access to BadgerCare, 29,000 of those being children.

Bureau Fiscal Analyst Eric Peck told Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, and the JFC during the hearing the findings of 64,000 individuals left uninsured was a conservative estimate.

Mason went on to say the committee is trying to put the new policies through based on a false deadline.

“The Walker budget gave us this deadline. We can change it. We are better than this. Wisconsin deserves better than this,” Mason said.

JFC Co-Chair Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the plan is innovative and the right thing to do during a time of limited resources.

He said putting the policy in place swiftly is necessary in order to keep the budget in check.

“The timeline is wise, and the time for social justice achieved through government money is over,” Vos said.

Sen. Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, said the issue is about the most vulnerable in our society.

“You made a choice, Mr. Chair, that we reward those who make more in the stock markets and neglect those who can’t afford a raise in their co-pay,” he said.

Bob Jacobson, spokesperson for the Council for Children and Families, said there are other solutions to the problem if the legislation would not be constricted by the “false deadline” of Dec. 31 written into the governor’s budget plan.

This plan will do more harm than good, Jacobson said.

“There are so many people that will be priced out of health care by this. It is more of a shift of money than a plan to reduce debt.”

The approved changes will move on to higher offices of legislation for further review before being put into action sometime during the next session.