If Wisconsin were to accept the Medicaid expansion, the state’s two most populous counties would see an additional 29,000 people covered by the program.
That’s according to a new county-by-county breakdown from the Department of Health Services, which shows an estimated 24,182 new Milwaukee County residents and 4,832 extra Dane County residents would be covered by Medicaid if the state takes the federal dollars, as Gov. Tony Evers is proposing.
Brown, Racine and Rock counties round out the top five. Brown County would have an additional 3,360 covered, while Racine and Rock counties would see an extra 3,294 and 2,792 insured, respectively.
In all, the state estimates an additional nearly 82,000 people across Wisconsin would be covered under Evers’ budget plan to take federal money available through the Affordable Care Act.
DHS Secretary Andrea Palm had previously told reporters the guv’s plan to expand Medicaid is the driver behind a $1.6 billion investment in health care programs that would help close coverage gaps in areas such as mental health and substance abuse.
And the figures DHS announced yesterday show when the federal funding is combined with other investments for agency programs from state and federal sources, Evers’ budget would provide nearly $2.4 billion in total for investments in Wisconsin counties.
In terms of total dollars, Milwaukee and Dane counties would again see the biggest changes. Milwaukee County would see a total of $695 million invested, including $219.8 million to cover the 24,182 new county residents under Medicaid, per the DHS data.
Meanwhile, Dane County would see a $208 million total increase, including $41.7 million to cover 4,832 extra residents.
The other top counties are: Winnebago County, which would log a $104 million increase in investments, including $18.1 million to expand Medicaid to an estimated 2,010 residents; Racine County, which would see an extra $100 million, including $29.8 million to cover 3,294 more residents; and Brown County, which would see $92 million more, including an estimated $29.1 million to cover 3,360 more residents.
See the data:
http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/budget/county.htm
See a WisPolitics.com spreadsheet comparing the counties:
http://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/190430MedicaidExpansionbyCounty.pdf
