The Department of Health Services wants $675 million for health care from the state, potentially through increased taxes, according to a budget projection submitted to the Department of Administration last week.
The majority of the 2011-2013 budget request addressed funding needs for Medicaid and BadgerCare Plus, programs that received a 10 percent increase in federal funding since 2009, according to the DHS.
Federal coverage of Medicaid in Wisconsin is at approximately 68 percent, but support from stimulus money ends in June 2011, according to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Medicaid is a federally funded program for the poor, elderly and disabled. BadgerCare Plus is a Wisconsin health care program for low-income individuals.
The budget proposal was written under the assumption Congress will continue to support state Medicaid endeavors through funding even after the June deadline, said Karen Timberlake, DHS secretary in the budget projection.
The DHS estimates it should receive up to $163 million annually for Medicaid from the federal government.
The DHS budget request comes as projections for the state deficit loom at $2.71 billion according to the State Legislative Bureau, an issue the future governor will have to deal with upon taking office.
Gubernatorial candidates Scott Walker and Tom Barrett have both made vows that they will avoid raising taxes as governor.
It is unclear how budget requests like the one made by DHS will mesh with candidate promises, especially since Barrett and Walker will most likely work to uphold campaign promises to rein in taxes if they take office.
“If a candidate runs against tax increases or increases in spending, there’s decent evidence they will try to follow through with that, at least for the first two years,” Franklin said.
However, the DHS budget proposes raising revenue partially through increasing taxes, specifically the hospital tax, and potentially extending it to health care providers as well.
The hospital tax was passed in 2009 and creates revenue from hospital taxes for the state to spend on Medicaid, which increases federal Medicaid matching funds.
“That’s a good example where perversely, undoing that tax would actually end up costing hospitals more,” Franklin said.
