Federal officials approved changes by the governor to cut costs to the state-run health care program BadgerCare late last week, which will eliminate coverage for an estimated 17,000 people. 

According to a statement released by the Department of Health Services, the cuts will affect adults above 133 percent of the federal poverty level, the equivalent of a household of three living on an income of $25,390. The changes will not apply to children currently enrolled in BadgerCare. 

Under Gov. Scott Walker’s changes, monthly or increased premiums will be introduced, employees will be required to use health care plans provided by their employers instead of the public option and there will be increased eligibility standards for obtaining coverage. 

The DHS statement said the affected individuals will be notified next week, with the changes enacted in July.

Walker initially argued for larger cuts that would have affected almost 65,000 people, but President Barack Obama’s administration asked him to scale back his plans to abide by the nationwide Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to the statement. 

Cuts to BadgerCare went into effect based largely on a budgetary shortfall of $1.8 billion for the 2011-2013 budget and the loss of a match rate from the federal government, Department of Health Services spokesperson Stephanie Smiley said in an email to The Badger Herald. 

“We all share the goal to ensure everyone has access to affordable coverage, where individuals would only be ineligible for the program if they already have access to affordable coverage as defined by the federal government or if they choose to not pay a fair share to the cost of their care,” Smiley said.

Smiley also said cuts made under Walker were not the first and the previous administration was also directed to cut $625 million from the Medicaid budget. 

However, Democratic lawmakers are protesting the changes to BadgerCare, with several introducing measures to overturn Walker’s plan. 

Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, and Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, filed a complaint last week with the federal government alleging Walker illegally prevented 22,000 eligible adults from enrolling in BadgerCare, according to a statement. 

Democratic Party spokesperson Graeme Zielinski said he was “disgusted” with the actions of the Walker administration. 

“This does not reflect Wisconsin’s values and is an act of despicable moral cowardliness,” Zielinski said. 

He said cuts to coverage would only increase future costs for individuals because hospitals would be forced to absorb unpaid bills. Zielinski also said the changes would not help reduce the budget deficit or funding issues faced by the state.