From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— State health officials say Wisconsin could lose up to $16.8 billion in federal funding if a per-person funding cap for Medicaid is implemented.
The state Department of Health Services today released an analysis of potential state impacts from proposed funding cuts, including an $880 billion target budget reduction put forth by the U.S. House of Representatives. The agency says major impacts to Medicaid and other health programs are “unavoidable.”
Under a loss of federal funding, Wisconsin Medicaid Director Bill Hanna says the state would have several options to fill the gaps, including finding more state dollars to offset the losses, covering fewer services, cutting provider rates and changing who’s eligible for Medicaid.
“So fewer people are eligible, which means the uninsured rate will likely go up,” Hanna said today during an online briefing. “Uninsured rates going up means more uncompensated care in our health care infrastructure and hospitals and other providers … No matter what, because Medicaid is so important in the health care infrastructure, it will have impact on providers.”
Under the current funding structure, the federal government reimburses Wisconsin at a set percentage of eligible Medicaid costs. But DHS is warning that if Congress moves to change that to a set dollar amount per enrollee, the shift would “squeeze state budgets” and cause state taxpayers to shoulder the burden if medical costs go up quickly.
DHS notes Medicaid covers 20% of all state residents, including 40% of births, 38% of children and 60% of all nursing home residents.
The agency also warns of potential cuts to benefits and provider payments, with the state projected to lose up to $16.8 billion in federal funding if a per-person funding cap is put in place.
Meanwhile, DHS says cuts to federal funding for administration of Medicaid programs would make it harder to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse and operate these programs effectively. The cost to Wisconsin of these Medicaid infrastructure cuts is estimated at up to $93 million.
The agency is also warning of new “red-tape” that could create obstacles to getting health coverage, such as work requirements. Hanna said these “additional burdens” would result in people losing coverage.
The agency says Wisconsin Medicaid enrolled about 191,000 adults without dependent children per month late last year, and about 52,000 of them would be “at highest risk” for losing eligibility under these requirements. The annual cost to the state is estimated at up to $65.6 million.
Hanna emphasized the current uncertainty around changes to federal funding levels, noting state officials and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are trying to “read the tea leaves” about what will happen next.
“Until there’s more certainty, the focus is on getting the current state budget approved this summer,” he said.
See the release below.
— SHINE Technologies is expanding distribution of a cancer treatment product to the United Arab Emirates through an agreement with Modawina Medical Company of Dubai.
The Janesville nuclear technology company recently announced the distribution partnership, which will bring SHINE’s Illumira product to patients in the UAE. Under the agreement, Modawina Medical Company will provide the product to nuclear medicine centers and other customers there.
Illumira is SHINE’s name for non-carrier-added lutetium-177, a radiopharmaceutical product that’s made at the Cassiopeia facility in Janesville. It’s used for targeted cancer therapies that aim to limit damaging nearby healthy cells.
The site can support up to 100,000 doses being produced each year, the company says, which are distributed for cancer treatment purposes around the world. The announcement notes the FDA recently expanded approval for Lu-117-based treatments for certain types of prostate cancer.
Ahmed Aboufaroukh, founder and CEO of MMC, says the new partnership will help the company “address the growing demand for targeted radiotherapies” for cancer treatment. The move is part of SHINE’s plan to expand access to its products in other markets while strengthening the supply chain for medical isotopes.
SHINE CEO and founder Greg Piefer says the Middle East “represents an exciting growth region” for advanced cancer therapies.
“We’re proud to help lead that growth,” he said in a statement. “What’s most exciting about expanding into the UAE with MMC, a partner with deep relationships with healthcare providers across the region, is the opportunity to deliver breakthrough cancer treatments for patients who may not have had access before.”
Meanwhile, Piefer was recently named as a recipient of UW-Madison’s 2025 Chancellor’s Entrepreneurial Achievement Award, which recognizes alumni and other university innovators for their contributions to entrepreneurship.
The university notes SHINE’s fusion-based technology was originally patented through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which handles patenting and licensing for UW-Madison research. Piefer has three degrees from the university.
“We’ve chosen some of the most difficult things to do on earth,” he said in the release. “But I tend to see the way forward and discount the difficulties. You have to, I think, to be an entrepreneur, or you just wouldn’t do it. “
See the release below.
— A hospital fee that spurs additional federal revenue for providers while covering other costs is unlikely to run afoul of cost-cutting measures DC Republicans have floated for the Medicaid program.
But those talks in Washington could complicate Gov. Tony Evers’ call in the budget to triple the hospital assessment, a move the state’s largest hospital association generally supports.
The Wisconsin Hospital Association began pitching the Capitol last fall on increasing the assessment, which hasn’t changed since it was implemented in 2009. WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding argued that with costs increasing significantly over the past 16 years, it made sense to look at increasing the assessment to the maximum allowed to boost hospital revenues.
He also downplayed the possibility that the coming federal budget could jeopardize what Evers has proposed. The net impact of the guv’s budget also would more than triple the payments hospitals receive each year under the arrangement.
“At this point, I’ve seen nothing coming out of Washington that would jeopardize not only the existing assessment, but nothing coming out of Washington that would jeopardize increasing it in a way that would allow us to start catching up to inflation,” Borgerding said.
See more at WisPolitics.
Top Stories
– As a diversity grant dies, young scientists fear it will haunt their careers
– When Hospitals Ditch Medicare Advantage Plans, Thousands of Members Get To Leave, Too
– GOP Rep says Trump ‘does not want’ agenda bill ‘to be a health care bill’
– Germany’s Merck KGaA in $3.9 billion deal to buy US biotech firm SpringWorks
– Trump administration to close a civil rights office in RFK Jr.’s HHS
– RFK Jr. Exaggerates Share of Autistic Population With Severe Limitations
– RFK Jr. autism data project stokes alarm over motives
Press Releases
– SHINE: Expands global footprint with UAE distribution partnership for cancer-fighting isotopes
