— The ongoing Medicaid unwinding process is expected to impact this year’s Healthcare.gov open enrollment period, according to a spokesperson for the state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.
In an interview yesterday, OCI Director of State Affairs Sarah Smith said the agency hopes to see continued growth in the number of health insurance sign-ups this year. A total of 221,128 Wisconsinites signed up for health insurance during the previous open enrollment period, which is the highest that total has been since 2018, when it reached about 225,000.
While Smith cautioned it’s difficult to make projections for this year, she said the Medicaid unwinding process will likely be the most significant factor influencing this year’s enrollment activity. This is occurring due to the expiration of a pandemic-era government program that temporarily required states to keep Medicaid members enrolled.
Every month, people whose renewal window has opened are working with state health officials to see if they’re still eligible or if they need to secure alternative coverage, she said.
“We really will know best when those final numbers come out at the end of the open enrollment period what that impact has been,” she said. “But there’s certainly a possibility that because people are now being disenrolled from Medicaid after three years … that they may suddenly join a plan on the marketplace.”
Still, she noted some people who no longer qualify for Medicaid are moving to employer-based coverage now that states have resumed determining eligibility after renewals were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. Smith said the state Department of Health Services is working to encourage those who are newly ineligible for Medicaid to seek health coverage elsewhere.
“So that’s certainly going to have some impact, it’s just hard to know what that’s going to look like,” she said, adding those who lost coverage earlier in the year through this process may also be seeking coverage now.
“This is a very fluid situation, so we just may see some impact from that change. Because certainly it’s a large number of people who are being evaluated for Medicaid renewals over the next several months,” Smith said.
This year’s open enrollment period began Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15, 2024.
OCI in October announced Wisconsin’s individual health insurance market on Healthcare.gov has the second-most insurers in the country, with 14. Only Texas has more, while New York and California are just below Wisconsin in the ranking, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.
Smith attributes the strength of the state’s market to the Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan, a state reinsurance program that holds down rates by covering portions of certain high-cost enrollee claims. The state’s waiver for the program was recently extended by federal officials through plan year 2028, she noted. The total funding for the program is $230 million per year, including both federal and state dollars.
“We know that the stability plan has supported insurers remaining in our market and joining our market, and as we continue to see growth, I think that will hopefully remain … every county in the state having multiple options for health plans is not something every state can say,” she said.
See analysis of Wisconsin’s individual health insurance market here: https://oci.wi.gov/Documents/Consumers/Market_Analysis_Final_Report_Aug2022.PDF
See a map of insurer coverage in the state: https://oci.wi.gov/Pages/Consumers/FindHealthInsurer.aspx
— The Universities of Wisconsin will have a role in the occupational licensing process for students entering health care fields, state officials announced.
In a release yesterday, the state Department of Safety and Professional Services announced a new agreement with the Universities of Wisconsin, which is aimed at speeding up the licensing process for in-demand health professions.
Certain university staff will get limited access to the DSPS online licensing system called LicensE, through a new access portal for educators. They will be able to view student rosters, verify graduation dates and program completion and otherwise monitor students’ progress in obtaining professional licenses, the release shows.
The LicensE Educator Access Portal, or LEAP, was piloted by DSPS at nursing schools including the UW-Milwaukee School of Nursing. It’s now being expanded to all health-related programs across the university system.
“The key is the ability for students to transition to become a licensed professional with as few barriers as quickly as possible,” UW-Milwaukee College of Health Professions and Sciences Dean Kim Litwack said in a statement.
Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman underlined the state’s “urgent” war for talent in announcing the new agreement.
“This collaboration has so much potential for the graduates in these high-demand fields at UW-Milwaukee and all of the 13 Universities of Wisconsin,” he said.
See the release: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/universities-of-wisconsin-dsps-partner-to-facilitate-faster-licensing/
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— The Assembly has approved by voice vote a bill aiming to ensure out-of-state mental health care providers with licenses in other states don’t have to be licensed in Wisconsin to offer telehealth services in the state.
And Encompass Health has opened a 56-bed hospital in Fitchburg, the Alabama health care company announced.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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— The Wisconsin Broadband Office has received 124 applications requesting nearly $222 million in high speed internet expansion grants.
The Public Service Commission is expected to award up to $42 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for broadband expansion grants, according to a release from Gov. Tony Evers. That’s the highest ratio of funding requested to available funding since the first round of broadband grants in 2014, according to the guv’s office. Evers said the new expansions will help close the digital divide where residents have struggled with inadequate internet access.
“That said, clearly, the need far outweighs the resources available, and we must keep making meaningful state investments to prioritize and invest in the robust broadband infrastructure needed to meet our state’s 21st-century needs,” he added.
The grants will go toward broadband infrastructure projects that will meet or exceed 100 megabits per second download and upload speeds with at least one low-cost option.
PSC expects to announce recipients by spring and will evaluate requests based on service affordability, project design and technology, applicant capacity to complete the work, and community engagement and support.
Evers has allocated more than $345 million in state and federal funding to high-speed Internet expansion since 2019.
See the list of applicants and their proposed projects: https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/broadband/5-CPF-2023-ApplicationSummary.pdf
See a map of proposed project sites: https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/broadband/5-CPF-2023-BbExpG59.pdf
See the release: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/37ac336
— GOP lawmakers have introduced legislation that would allow the sale of raw milk, 13 years after a similar effort made it through the Legislature only to be vetoed by then-Gov. Jim Doyle.
Current law bars the sale of unpasteurized milk and other milk products.
The legislation would allow a milk producer to obtain a license from DATCP to sell unpasteurized dairy products processed on farm premises to consumers through delivery, a retail store or directly from the farm.
In 2010, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau opposed the raw milk bill that Doyle vetoed. But in December 2022, delegates at the organization’s convention voted to back legalizing raw milk sales.
See the release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/rep-behnke-introduces-raw-milk-legislation/
#TOP STORIES#
# Wisconsin businesses need more engineers. GOP is holding up UW-Madison project that would help address shortage
# Advocacy groups hope to revive bill requiring hospitals to better communicate with family caregivers
# High-profile execs speak out on biggest challenge facing Milwaukee area over next 40 years
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– WI farm bureau praises farmland preservation program bill
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=1004&yr=2023
# CONSTRUCTION
– Building blocks: Kraus-Anderson completes Gundersen Tri-County Hospital
– Student apartment tower with 1,600 beds gets first OK from Madison
# ENVIRONMENT
– Senate signs off on bill to spend tens of millions on PFAS pollution
– Bowhunter kills cougar in Buffalo County
# HEALTH CARE
– Lawmakers back project to treat PTSD in veterans with magic mushrooms
– Froedtert & MCW piloting generative AI technology as it invests in startup
– Miramont Behavioral Health opens outpatient clinic in Pewaukee
# LABOR
– Record number of Wisconsin apprentices outpaces last year’s milestone
– Wisconsin has record number of apprentices in 112-year-old training program
# MANUFACTURING
– Strike at Wisconsin manufacturer’s California plant enters second week
– Green Bay Packaging plans new $60 million manufacturing facility in Germantown
# POLITICS
– WI Senate passes milk transportation bill
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=1005&yr=2023
– Leaders of 2 Wisconsin tribes accuse lawmakers of discrimination after excluding them from grant awards
# REAL ESTATE
– A $3.8 million plan for more downtown, Harbor District river walks
– Apartment complex apologizes for eviction threat against 98-year-old
– Cintas reopens shuttered Menomonee Falls facility as part of Cleanroom business
# SPORTS
– UW Badger hockey’s Owen Lindmark reflects on remarkable turnaround
– Brewers promote Pat Murphy to manager
# TECHNOLOGY
– Mount Pleasant could be cash-rich after deal with Microsoft
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
The Hmong Institute: Hosts a Noj Tsiab (Pre-New Year) meal and celebration
