MADISON — On July 20, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) launched a new webpage showing statewide data in BadgerCare Plus and Wisconsin Medicaid enrollment following the end of the federal continuous coverage requirement that had kept members enrolled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between June 2023 and May 2024, more than 1.6 million, or about 1 in 4, Wisconsinites will need to renew to see if they can stay covered under their current state program.
“We want to be transparent about the unprecedented changes happening with Medicaid this year, and the data we post each month will always be a snapshot in time as we will see the numbers change over time,” said DHS Secretary-designee Kirsten Johnson. “Our preliminary figures begin to paint a picture of what we’re seeing so far. We’ve seen at least 60% of Medicaid members who were scheduled to renew their coverage in June take action to start the process.”
The data on the new webpage show that in June 2023, 99,037 members of Wisconsin’s health care programs were due to renew their coverage and 61,057 members took some action to initiate the renewal process (this figure does not reflect current processing status or outcome). Some of those who did not initiate the renewal process may already have other coverage or may have known they were above the income limit for their program. Members who missed their renewal window can still submit their information up to three months past their renewal month to see if they are still eligible for coverage and get it reinstated.
“We are committed, as are our local and tribal agencies, health plans, and partner organizations, to continue to help people through this process, even after their renewal month has passed,” said Wisconsin Medicaid Director Jamie Kuhn. “Our priority is ensuring Wisconsinites continue to have health care coverage — whether through our state programs, an employer, or a plan purchased through HealthCare.gov.”
Additional data on the webpage show enrollment in BadgerCare Plus, Medicaid, and other state-funded programs and subprograms that provide health insurance coverage. These data help illustrate the impact of Medicaid in Wisconsin. DHS plans to update this page by the third Thursday of each month to reflect renewal activity in the previous month. DHS will be reviewing the data snapshot each month to learn and to improve our processes and messaging.
The DHS website offers information about plans for the resumption of renewals, a toolkit of materials for partners who work with members, and pages of general information for members about this year’s process, including a page where members can sign up for email reminders if they know their scheduled renewal month.