The Wisconsin Legislature’s budget-writing committee – the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) – recently concluded its work on the 2023-25 state budget bill, essentially rewriting Gov. Tony Evers’ $104 billion two-year spending plan for the state. The committee has sent the budget to the full Legislature, which will take-up and ultimately pass (with no significant changes) the bill this week.

The budget bill includes numerous health care-related provisions that may be of interest to WAO members. Please find below the budget items approved by JFC related to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services:

• Funds Medicaid cost to continue.
• Increases hospital reimbursement rates.
• Increases primary care provider reimbursement rates for certain codes to 70 percent of Medicare rates.
• Increases the maximum allocation for Disproportionate Share Hospital payments to $71.6 million.
• Requires DHS to establish new reporting requirements for long-term care Managed Care Organizations.
• Prohibits Medicaid payments for puberty-blocking drugs or gender reassignment surgery.

Once approved by lawmakers, the budget will be sent to Evers for veto review and approval. The next edition of the WAO Advocacy Newsletter will provide a full recap of the budget bill.