From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Health insurance remains among the most important issues for registered voters in the latest Marquette Law School Poll, trailing only cost of living and immigration issues.
The September survey found 45% of registered voters said inflation and cost of living was their most important issue right now, followed by illegal immigration and border issues at 11% and health insurance at 9%.
That’s a similar breakdown to the previous survey in August, when health insurance was again among the top three issues, with 10% of respondents saying it’s the one that matters most to them.
Health insurance was also among the top responses for the second-most important issue in the more recent survey at 13%, exceeding only jobs and the economy with 16% and inflation and cost of living at 19%.
Meanwhile, abortion policy was less likely to be the top choice for respondents but still made the list. Five percent of respondents said it was currently their most important issue, and 4% said it was their second-most important, similar to the prior survey’s results.
The survey was conducted Sept. 16-23 and included 843 registered Wisconsin voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
— The Department of Health Services’ outlook for the Medicaid fund improved slightly in the most recent quarter after the agency used a maneuver to keep more money in the program.
The agency now projects the Medicaid fund to have a deficit of $269.2 million in general purpose revenue when the biennium ends June 30, an improvement of $53.2 million compared to what it expected three months ago.
The expected shortfall amounts to 2.8% of the nearly $9.7 billion budgeted for the program in the 2025-27 biennium.
The state gets federal matching funds for services that school districts deliver. When that money comes in, 60% goes to the school with the rest going to the state general fund. Instead of putting that 40% into the general fund, the agency has kept that money in the Medicaid program to help shore up its finances.
DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson wrote to the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee the move is consistent with statutory intent that federal revenue be used to offset the GPR share of Medicaid benefits, and the agency plans to take the same approach in fiscal year 2026-27.
She added that retaining the funds improved the projected deficit in the Medicaid fund by $122.4 million in GPR and that approach “does not affect the amount of revenues that school districts receive for Medicaid services under current state law.”
— The U.S. Senate voted down an effort by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin to overturn a Trump administration rule she says is a “backdoor attempt” to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins joined Dems in the unsuccessful attempt to undo the rule using the Congressional Review Act, in a 48-51 vote.
The rule, finalized in May, will put into place stricter verification requirements and eliminate standardized plan mandates for insurers. It also establishes new healthcare plans, some of which have higher out-of-pocket costs or lack dedicated networks of doctors and hospitals.
Attorney General Josh Kaul joined a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general in July in filing a lawsuit to vacate the rule.
Baldwin, D-Madison, says the policy forces people to pay more for worse care.
“This misguided policy, which Republicans and the president own, will jack up out-of-pocket costs and deductibles on millions, pile on red tape, and reduce coverage for essential things like addiction treatment, hearing aids and more,” Baldwin said Monday on the Senate floor.
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